War of Hearts
by Storyseeker
Summary: Kandrakar's true history is stranger and more dangerous than anyone knew. What part does Cornelia's sister, Lillian, have to play in it, and what is her connection to Nerissa?
1. Chapter 1

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2.**_

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**Mr. R's Main Office; **

**Heatherfield; 10PM: **

The old gentleman, known to all the agents of the Institute simply as Mr. R, read the latest reports from his assistant, concerning his findings at Sheffield Institute. This case had taken up a lot of his time, and he had spent many evenings working late since the incident in December, not that the Institute really ever closed. Sylla was almost certain he had found the girls he was looking for.

Mr. R and his assistant, Raphael Sylla, had been driving downtown in the city of Heatherfield last winter, when an unexpected snowstorm had struck. The storm had come close to decimating that part of the city. Everyone was, of course, blaming the destruction on the storm, but he knew better.

Although Sylla had seen nothing out of the ordinary, Mr. R had seen much more. Like many of the agents of their organisation, he had gone through years of rigorous training and mental discipline, in order to better protect his mind from illusions and glamours, which was what the storm had been, nothing more than an illusion,

Mr. R and Sylla were both agents of an agency of the government, set up to do research into the paranormal and unnatural. Some version of the agency had been around for almost two centuries. It had been known for many years now that Heatherfield was no ordinary place, and over the years they had uncovered many such oddities. Each experience had provided additional puzzle pieces. So far, they still lacked a coherent picture.

Sylla was still only a lackey, with not many years experience, so his mind was more vulnerable to illusions, which was why he had not seen what Mr. R had seen… five girls attacking a giant snake-monster.

After the fight, he had set Sylla and their agency to searching through every database in the city, focusing on high schools and middle schools, to locate any young girl answering close to the description of the ones he had seen. They had gone through every school in the state, researching every female student there was. Even with their vast funding, and all the resources at their disposal, it had taken all winter to find them, but eventually they did.

They had found many girls answering Mr. R's description, but after a process of elimination they had finally discovered the ones they were after. Five girls, all of who fit the descriptions provided, who all went to the same school, hung out together, whose whereabouts could not be accounted for at the time of the storm, and apparently, all of who had a tendency to disappear from time to time.

The only mystery was that the girls were younger than those that Mr. R had seen downtown, but considering that no one beside himself had actually seen the girls because of the illusion spell, he suspected that the girl's appearances might have been altered as well. He had allowed for this in the search, widening the age range when there were no initial results. When they had the best matches they'd gotten in four months, he had sent Sylla to infiltrate their school, and keep an eye on them for as long as possible, while he had temporarily returned to headquarters.

If these girls were hiding something, they'd soon find out what it was.

Just then, the door to his office opened.

He looked up sharply, wondering who had the nerve to come strolling into his office unannounced and without permission. "Who's there?!" he demanded, reaching for the light to illuminate his whole office. "What are you doing here?!"

"I am merely a humble seeker of knowledge," a voice answered. "Knowledge that you, apparently, possess."

He squinted his eyes, as he finally found the light-switch, but before he could press it, someone's hand pressed down on his own, almost crushing it to the point of breaking.

Hissing through his teeth in pain, he tried to fight back against the intruder's grip, but his days of fighting were long since passed. "What do you want?" he repeated, as he chewed his lower lip to bite back a scream.

"What I said," the voice told him. "Knowledge, which you and only you can give."

"And what would that be?"

"The five girls whom you saw in Heatherfield. I want their identities and everything else you have on them."

For a moment, he forgot about the crushing pain on his hand, and stared at the shadowy face of the intruder in surprise. "How do you know about that?" he asked in genuine interest. "No one outside of the agency knows about them or our interest in them."

"Let's just say I have resources here and there," the voice spoke with a hint of sarcasm, but there was an undeniable hint of menace within it also. Mr. R had little doubt that if he did not cooperate, it would be his last mistake.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

The stranger removed his hand, eliciting a sigh of relief from the old man, and then pressed the button that Mr. R had been reaching for in the first place. The room lights came up, revealing the stranger before him.

It was an Asian man in his mid to late twenties. He wasn't ugly. Far from it, as he was quite handsome, except for his eyes, which revealed to Mr. R at once that there was something not quite right about him, as the eyes that stared back at him seemed far older than the man himself…much, much older.

"My name is not important," the man replied. "I desire only the information you possess and nothing more. I would prefer to just take the information without incident, rather than soil my clothes with your blood."

Mr. R's blood ran cold. "You wouldn't dare."

"You'd be surprised what I would dare, Mr. R. I have done far more and far worse in my life. And the best thing of all…" He fished something out of his pocket, an ID card of some sort, R noted, and poked it under the old man's nose. "I have full authorisation to do it all. Now, are you going to give me the information, or do I have to take it?"

Mr. R stuttered for a few moments. The ID card gave the man full clearance. Whoever he was, he clearly had the authority to simply demand the information, which begged the question, why was the visitor threatening him? And why all the dramatics if he could simply order the agency to hand over all available information and drop the investigation?

Finally, he just nodded and pointed at the folder on his desk. "This is all the data we have so far on the young females. They are students at a school called the Sheffield Institute. Their names and addresses are here also."

"I assume you have an agent tailing them," the intruder commented, taking the folder from him.

"Of course."

"Call him back, and from now on I don't want you or yours anywhere near this school or those girls, understand?"

Mr. R seethed at him, but the cold glare the man threw back at him made his heart want to beat faster. "What do you want with them?"

The Asian shrugged. "Merely to reclaim something I lost long ago, something that I suspect they now possess."

"And that would be?"

The stranger smiled. "Are you so certain you wish to know?"

He nodded, eager to learn, and then the intruder proceeded to undo his shirt to reveal his bare chest. He stared at the Asian's chest, his eyes widening in disbelief and horror

"Do I need to explain myself further?" the man asked, but all Mr. R could do was sit and stare at him.

"I thought not." The man took the folder and prepared to leave. "If you wish to tell your superiors of this meeting of ours, please go ahead. But rest assured… If you do, then like your agency, me and mine will do all we can to preserve our…_secrecy,_ as well."

Mr. R just remained where he was, watching as the stranger finally left his office, closing the door casually behind him.

A few moments later, his phone rang, and after letting it ring six times, he finally picked up the strength to answer it.

"Hello?"

"_Mr. R?" _Sylla's voice spoke.

"Sylla?"

"Yes, I apologise for phoning so late, but I thought you might like some of my latest findings about the five youngsters-"

"Pull out," he simply told him.

"_What? Why?" _

Mr. R frowned. "Let's just say I have to bow to a higher power for now. Record all the information you have on the girls so far, then should things change, we'll pick up where we left off. But for now, it seems to be safer to watch from a distance."

"_Understood. Pulling out."_ Sylla hung up.

Mr. R slowly placed the phone back on its cradle. Since it's founding, the Institute had researched every supernatural event it could find, and the man that had just left was like the embodiment of everything they were dedicated to investigating. But whoever this man was, there was one thing for certain, and that was he was no one to be trifled with.

The old professor was not a man known for worrying about those he was investigating, but in this case, if that stranger was going to have a meeting with them, he feared for those girls.

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**Vandom Residence; Same Time: **

Somewhere in Heatherfield, a young redheaded Guardian tossed and turned in her sleep, as dark images invaded her mind.

_Will and her friends stood before the dark silhouette of a man. It stood before them, making no move. It was too dark for her to make out any of his features. _

_Without warning, Cornelia attacked, summoning vines from the ground to entrap him. But when the vines reached the man, they suddenly began to wither and die right. Taranee then summoned up her fire, blasting at the man with all her might, with an intensity that would normally incinerate a whole forest, yet for all the good it did against the newcomer, it might as well been a candle-flame. _

_The other Guardians were quick to add their own powers and abilities to the fight, but in the end, their efforts were just as wasted. Will's was the worst._

_She blasted the man with her Quintessence powers, but for some reason when she did, all it seemed to do was feed him. She felt her power being drained, and then the scariest thing happened. She felt the Heart of Kandrakar move by itself, floating up towards the man! _

_She grabbed the Heart, only for it to slip right through her fingers, as it flew to the man's now outstretched hand. _

"_NO!" she yelled, as the man's hand closed around the Heart, and then… _

Will woke up gasping, her heart surging as if in a panic attack. She placed her hand on her chest, trying desperately to steady her breathing.

"Talk about a nightmare rush," she said, breathing heavily. "And I thought nightmares were a thing of the past now."

After a few minutes, when her heart finally slowed down to its normal pace, Will took a deep breath and thought back to her dream. The image of the man was too dark for her to tell who it was, so it could have been anyone. Assuming of course that it even was a man in the first place. Since the image had been too dark to tell, she supposed it could have been a woman.

Will frowned at that. No, for some reason her instincts were telling her that it had been a man. She didn't know why, she just knew.

"It's probably just some bad memories leftover from last year," she said aloud. The image could have been Phobos. After what happened last year with the now imprisoned Prince of Meridian, Nerissa invading their dreams and everything, sleep had not come easily.

Will laid her head back down, silently staring up at the ceiling. After a few minutes, her eyes gradually closed again, giving her a restful sleep at last.

She did not even notice the Heart of Kandrakar, lying by the side of her bed, as it started to glow and sparkle, as though reacting to something… something close.

0000000000

Will yawned, as her mother drove her to school, her eyelids feeling like they had weights on them.

Her mother, Susan Vandom, eyed her suspiciously. "Don't tell me you stayed up late watching TV again?" she said warningly.

"Mmm?" Will said, yawning again. "No, mom. Just didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh, you're not sick, are you?" Susan asked, looking a little worried, as she parked outside the school, immediately reaching for her daughter's forehead, to check her temperature.

"No, nothing like that," said Will, brushing her off. "I just…didn't sleep too good, that's all. Look, I gotta go now. See you tonight, bye!"

Will hurried out the car before her mother could object, rushing over to where Taranee, Hay Lin, Irma and Cornelia were already waiting for her. Matt was nowhere in sight, but she was running a bit late, and they didn't have class together until the afternoon.

"Whoa, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed," Irma said when Will ran up to them, eyeing her face. "What happened to you? You look like you just ran all the way here."

Will yawned again. "Restless night."

"Did you hear?" Taranee then asked.

"I just got here, how could I hear of anything?" Will replied, looking at her wryly.

"Mr. Sylla's flown the coop," the fire Guardian added, almost wailing. "Miss Knickerbocker said he transferred out of here yesterday without so much as a notice. He didn't even give notes of his class schedules, which means we'll all be behind in our classes this term!"

"Boo hoo," Cornelia said, uncaring, smoothing back her hair. "If I wanted to spend my life behind a screen all day, I'd just sit in front of my TV."

Taranee glared at her. "You may not care about your grades going down the drain, but I…"

"Come on, guys," Will said tiredly, acting as leader to negotiate the peace. "Taranee, I'm sure that…"

"Will!" Hay Lin's voice whispered frantically at her. "Your bag!"

Will looked down, wondering what it was that had gotten Hay Lin in such a stew, but whatever tiredness she may have been feeling previously soon evaporated, as she saw what had gotten her Asian friend so excited.

A bright light was sparkling within her bag, its glow waxing and waning, like a light bulb that was receiving too much power. She didn't need to look inside to know what it was, as it could only be one thing, but she looked anyway.

"Hey, Will," Irma whispered hurriedly, a false smile on her face, as people passed by while giving them curious looks. "You wanna turn down the light on that thing before you give us all away?!"

"Don't look at me, I'm not doing this!" Will hissed, as she opened her bag, looking down at the culprit…The Heart of Kandrakar. With her bag open, the light grew even more intense.

"Pull the batteries out of that thing, will ya?!"

"The Heart of Kandrakar doesn't have batteries, genius! If anything, the Heart is a battery!" Will tried pushing the Heart deeper into her bag, covering it up with her gym clothes and books, but all that did was make the light fade into a dimmer glow, shining through the fabrics of her bag.

Just then, the Heart began pulsing, as though it were beating like an actual heart.

"Will, what's going on?" Cornelia demanded.

"I don't know!" Will said, frustrated. "The Heart's never acted this way before, not even when the Oracle summoned us to Kandrakar."

"Maybe that's why it's acting like this?" Hay Lin suggested. "Perhaps Kandrakar is summoning us again?"

"Wait, wait. If there's another big bad on the move again, I'm handing in my resignation," Irma said, holding up her hands. "We've already defeated and hand-delivered two of them. What more do they want?"

"Take it up with the Union!" Will took a quick look around, checking that the coast was clear before reopening her bag and taking out the Heart.

"Will, what are you…?"

"We can't take the Heart with us to school like this," she explained. "We'll never be able to keep it hidden while it's acting like the fourth of July."

"So what do you suggest?" Taranee asked.

Will sighed. "We have no choice. Something is obviously bugging the Heart, so we need to take it to someone who knows more about it than we… Kandrakar."

"Will, are you crazy?! What about school?!" Taranee almost shrieked.

"Nice to know she's got her mind on the objective," Irma said wryly.

"We'll fold there and back before anyone knows we've gone." Will held the Heart before her. "Fold open! And if anyone asks, we'll just say we got held up in traffic or something."

The Heart sparkled once more, and a Fold in space shimmered open before them all, revealing the way to the Fortress at the Heart if Infinity.

"Last one there is a rotten tomato!" Hay Lin giggled, racing through, soon followed by the others. And as the last of them sped through, the Fold instantly closed behind them, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.

A few moments later, a long black limousine came up in front of the school, where the girls had been only moments before, its window sliding down.

The face of an Asian man looked out from the darkness of his car, his eyes concealed by the equally dark shades he had on, as he peered out over the schoolyard.

"It would seem that my objective has departed," he mused aloud. "Driver, move on!"

He brought his window back up, while his driver immediately restarted the car, passing right by the school, as instructed.

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**Kandrakar: **

"I don't get it!" Will said in frustration, almost shaking the Heart in her fist. "A few moments ago, this thing was blazing brighter than a fireworks display."

The instant they had left Earth, arriving in Kandrakar, the light from the Heart had immediately ceased, as if it had been switched off like a light.

The Oracle took the Heart gently from the Quintessence Guardian, carefully examining the mystical Gem. "I can sense nothing wrong with the Heart. Perchance you could tell us more of what exactly happened?"

Will sighed. "Nothing really to say. We were all at school, which is where we're all supposed to be right now incidentally, when suddenly the Heart began glowing and blinking brighter than a 400 watt light bulb."

"Blinking in what way?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. There was no exact pattern. It just kept going on and off, like when a flashlight is about to go when its batteries are worn out."

The Oracle frowned. "This is…unusual," he said finally. "Usually, the only time when the Heart reacts like this is when we are summoning you Guardians. But we made no such summons."

"Could someone else have been summoning us?" Hay Lin suggested.

He shook his head. "No, no one else has the power to send a summons through the Heart of Kandrakar besides us. And even if they did, a summons doesn't usually act in the way you've described."

He frowned. "From the way you've described it, it sounds as though the Heart could have been…_reacting,_ to something."

"Reacting?" Taranee queried.

"Yes, like there was a source of great power somewhere, powerful enough to attract the Heart's attention."

"Like a magnet?" Irma thought aloud.

"Something like that, yes, but I can't think of anything that would attract the attention of the Heart of Kandrakar." The Oracle frowned again. "The Heart, as powerful as it is, is no more powerful than any other mystic Heart, like the Heart of Meridian or Zamballa, and it never reacted to either of them, correct?"

"Right, but then…" Will asked, "What would be powerful enough?"

"I do not know," the Oracle said, narrowing his eyes at the mystic jewel in his hand. He handed it back to Will. "Return to your school, for now. I will immerse myself in deep meditation to learn the cause, and when I do, the Council will convene and decide on a plan of action."

"This doesn't mean there's going to be another big bad, is there?" Irma said hesitantly.

"Yeah, because it's only been, like, a few months since we defeated the last one, and she came up literally right after we defeated the first one an' all," Cornelia complained.

"Evil has many faces," the Oracle simple replied. "For every one that's defeated, there is always surely another ready to take its place. Such is the way of the universe."

The Oracle was wise in many ways, which wasn't all that surprising considering his age. There were many legends about him from across countless worlds, some believing him to have lived since the beginning of time, but that was merely an exaggeration.

He had indeed lived for quite some time, but to his people that was nothing special, as their species were known to live for thousands of years. Come October, according to the human calendar, the Oracle would be 2,034 years old. A beyond impressive age to some, but to his people he was just starting to reach middle age. His own father had lived to a ripe old 5,903.

"Swell," Irma muttered sarcastically.

"We will contact you if we hear of anything," he promised. "For now, continue with your daily lives as though nothing has happened."

"That's okay for you to say," Will said, moaning. "But you've never had to deal with Miss Knickerbocker for being late to school."

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**Hale Residence; 3 Days Later: **

Cornelia hummed as she strolled in through her front door. School was finished for the day, she had no homework, and she had plans to meet the rest of the Guardians to catch a Vance Michael Justin movie. So, needless to say, she was feeling on top of the world at that moment.

"DON'T EVER GO THROUGH MY THINGS AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, DO YOU HEAR?!"

Unfortunately, nothing good ever lasts, as her mother's voice screamed out from inside.

"_I was only looking for some paper to do some drawing!"_ Lillian's voice cried, sounding very upset. _"I had run out!" _

"That's no excuse! You are never to go through any of my things without my permission, do you understand?!"

Cornelia made her way over to the living room just in time to see Lillian come running past her, sobbing her eyes out. She watched her sister for a minute, wondering if she should go after her, but at the moment she was more concerned for her mother. While it was true that her mother, Elizabeth Hale, was a strict woman, Cornelia had never seen her so high-strung.

She watched Napoleon as he passed by her, most likely to go after Lillian. He gave her a meaningful stare, and she nodded in understanding. He could offer Lillian a sympathetic cuddle while she dealt with other things.

She entered the living room, and found her parents sitting on the couch, her mother sobbing just as badly as Lillian had been, with her father, Harold Hale, holding her.

"Mom? Dad?" Cornelia asked hesitantly. "Is everything okay?"

Her mother hurriedly wiped her face, sniffing loudly to compose herself. "Everything's fine," she said quickly. "Lillian was just snooping about my things. I've told you both before that neither of you should go around other people's things without their permission…"

"Yes, mom, I know," the Earth Guardian said tiredly. Her mother had always had a funny obsession with people going through her stuff. She knew better than anyone that it was not nice for someone to go through your personal belongings, but even so, her mother seemed to have taken it to the next level today. "What happened?"

"I found her going into my wardrobe. She said she was looking for some paper to do some drawing."

"That's it?" Cornelia said, looking blankly at her parents.

"It's not enough to go through someone's personal belongings?" her mother replied sharply.

"Well, no, but…the way you were going on just now, I thought Lillian had done something like steal your jewellery or something."

"I don't like snoopers, Cornelia," Elizabeth Hale said in a huff. "I never have done and I never will. Just you be sure you don't repeat her mistakes, young lady."

Cornelia stared at her mother for a moment, noticing that her eyes were looking haunted. Her mom had never been good at hiding her feelings from anyone, least of all her children. "Mom, is there anything wrong?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, a touch of panic in her voice. "Why, what a stupid thing to say. I told you that I just don't like…!"

"Elizabeth," Cornelia's father then spoke, sounding as though he were tired. "Stop."

He spoke the final word with an air of finality, as though they were coming to the end of a journey, as he looked at his wife with a look of sadness and compassion.

"Harold!" his wife said, almost hysterically.

"Elizabeth, please," her husband told her. "Cornelia's not stupid. She knows something's up, and she's old enough to know the truth, even if Lillian isn't."

"The truth?" Cornelia stared at them. "The truth about what?"

Her mother looked lost, as she stared back at her, eyes full of sorrow, but the look from her husband seemed to give her some small measure of strength, and she sighed seemingly in defeat, nodding in submission.

"Cornelia honey," her father told her. "Sit down. Your mother and I have something to tell you."

Cornelia just did as she was told, sitting on the armchair in front of them, looking at them expectantly.

"Before we say anything else," her father then said firmly. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear, and that is that Lillian is NOT to know anything of what we are about to discuss. Understand?"

She nodded, still confused but patient.

Her father took a deep breath, her mother holding his hand and still looking distressed.

"Cornelia, sweetheart," he began. "You know that we love you and your sister equally, don't you?"

"Err, yeah?"

"And although you and your sister do fight an awful lot, I have always believed that you care a great deal about her, correct?"

Cornelia felt her confusion growing, but she slowly nodded. For as long as she could remember, it had always been expected of her to be her little sister's protector, a typical thing considering that she was the older daughter. That role in her life had become even more important since she found out that her sister was actually the Heart of Earth, and she had devoted herself completely to watching out for her sister, until such time when she was old enough to look after herself.

"I don't want any of that to change after we tell you what we know, okay?" her father continued. "Lillian is and will forever be your sister, no matter what, understand?"

She nodded again.

Her father took another deep breath. "Lillian…" he started. "She… She's not our biological child."

"_What_?!" she practically shrieked. Her mother seemed to tighten her grip on her husband's hand, looking as though she wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment.

Harold Hale sighed. "Lillian…is not our biological child, Cornelia," he repeated. "We adopted her when she was just one week old."

Cornelia felt like fainting. "Lillian's…_adopted_?"

Her parents just sat and nodded, seemingly waiting for her to catch her breath. She would need it, for at that moment Cornelia felt her entire world spinning around out of control.

"This…this isn't possible!" she exclaimed. "Lillian can't be adopted! For as long as I can remember, everyone who's ever met us kept on saying how much we looked alike, how we looked like you, mom, and the way we kept fighting like cats and dogs! How can she not be my sister?!"

Her father stared firmly at her. "I told you she is!" he stated. "Maybe not in the biological sense, but you've been around Lillian her whole life. You played with her when she was a baby, looked out for her whenever she needed guidance, protected her from the bullies at school or gave her a shoulder to cry on whenever she needed it. If that's not a sister then I don't know what is."

Despite the serious tone in her father's voice, Cornelia wasn't listening. She was still reeling from his revelation. "How?!" she just asked. "How could Lillian be adopted and I not know it all these years?"

Her parents looked at each other for a moment, and then her mother replied. "You were barely 6 when we got Lillian. You were practically a baby. We just told you that the stork had left us a bundle on our doorstep, and you believed us. After that, we did our best to keep the truth hidden."

"Why?"

Her mother shrugged. "Lillian's just a baby herself. She probably doesn't even know what adoption means."

"She's nearly nine years old, mom," Cornelia said wryly. "Not nine months."

"Well, she's still a baby to me!" her mother snapped, but quietened down after a pat from her husband.

"We didn't want to confuse her, sweetheart," Harold explained. "We wanted her to have as normal a childhood as possible. One with a family that loves her, a secure home and nothing to threaten her."

'Good luck with that,' Cornelia thought sarcastically. Considering who and what her sister was, and after what had nearly happened with Nerissa, keeping anything from threatening her wouldn't be the easiest of jobs.

"But she looks just like me," she then said. It wasn't the smartest thing she had ever thought of, but it was one of the first things that came to mind.

Her father shrugged. "Coincidence," he simply replied. "But it's not really a big surprise, as although she is adopted, Lillian is still family."

"What do you mean?"

"Lillian is the daughter of a distant relative of ours who passed away. She had nowhere else to go, nor anyone to take care of her. We were the closest relatives she had with suitable accommodation for a child. Social Services got in touch with us while we were still living in California, and although we had our hands full with you, your mother and I couldn't turn our backs on an innocent child." He smiled. "And when we saw Lillian for the first time, our hearts just burst open. Her resemblance to you was uncanny. It was like a sign from God that she was meant to be with us."

The Hales had only lived in Heatherfield for the last eight years or so. Before that, they had lived in southern California, until her father had gotten a promotion and they moved to Heatherfield for him to manage his own bank.

Cornelia frowned. "Who were Lillian's parents?"

Her mother gave her a hard look. "We ARE her parents, Cornelia, sweetheart!"

"I know that, mom," Cornelia said hurriedly, not wanting to upset her mother further. "I mean, who were her birth parents? You said that they were distant relatives of ours who passed away. What, were they cousins or something?"

Her father just shrugged again. "I'm afraid I don't know, angel. When the Social Services contacted us, they said they weren't allowed to disclose that kind of information to us."

"But if they were family already, then didn't that give us the right to know?" the Earth Guardian said in confusion.

"Afraid it doesn't always work out that way, sweetheart. And don't bother asking me, because there's a lot of the law that I will never understand. All they told us was that it was a distant relative on your mother's side…some 6th or 8th cousin of her mothers that she didn't know about…and that they had died suddenly, with no direct relatives of their own. And when we asked about them, the Social worker in charge of Lillian's adoption, a Mrs Jenkins, said that they couldn't disclose any information to us, only to Lillian, and not until she was at least 18."

Cornelia sighed. In a way, this explained a lot because she had always been curious about how Lillian could be the Heart of Earth.

Elyon was the Heart of Meridian because her birth mother, Queen Weira, had been the Heart before her, as her mother had been before her and so forth. It was the same with most mystic Hearts that were born in living vessels, across numerous worlds. So it had always been a mystery to Cornelia how her little sister could be a Heart when their mother wasn't.

She knew that her mother was definitely no Heart, nor had any kind of magic in her, as she would have found out long before now if she were, especially since becoming a Guardian, or Napoleon would have told her and the other Guardians. She had just never considered the possibility that maybe her baby sister was not her sister at all.

"But they did give us something along with Lillian," her father then added.

"Hmm?" she said, looking up in interest.

Her father looked over to the side, most likely checking to see if Lillian was there, but after seeing no one he looked to his wife who brought out a large envelope.

"This is what got your mother so upset, Cornelia," he told her. "When Lillian was going through your mother's things, she found this old envelope, and when your mother came in, Lillian looked as if she were about to open it. It contains all of her adoption papers."

Cornelia's eyes widened a little in understanding. That would certainly explain why her mother had gotten so upset at Lillian for just looking for some paper.

Her father reached into the envelope and pulled out a gold locket.

"What is that?" she asked.

"This came with Lillian when the lady from the Adoption Agency brought her to us," he explained. "Apparently, it belonged to her birth mother. It was an old family heirloom or something, given to the first daughter."

Cornelia held out her hand so that she could get a better look at it. Her father handed it to her.

The locket was large and looked very old, probably close to a century. It had classic old style carvings around it, and there were some words engrained on the back, but she couldn't understand them.

"What do these words mean?"

"They're Spanish, sweetheart," her mother replied. "They mean _To All My Daughters, May This Bring You Luck On Your Happiest Of Days_."

"And what does THAT mean?"

Her mother shrugged. "Happiest of days usually means your wedding day, so I guess this locket was given to their daughters when they were about to marry, but obviously we can't be sure of that since we never met them."

Cornelia turned the locket over in her hand, snapping it open. There was a small photograph inside, faded with no colour, of an old woman. She looked Mexican, somewhere around her mid 60s and dressed in heavy jewellery, including the locket that Cornelia could see clearly hanging around her neck.

"We don't know who that is." Her father answered what would have been her next question. "I can only assume that it must be an old relative of her birth parents."

"One of her parents was Mexican?" Cornelia asked in doubt. Lillian was pale-skinned, sunny-blonde and blue-eyed. She didn't look like she had any Mexican blood in her.

"Maybe, or at least one of her ancestors was, I don't know," her father shrugged. "Like I said, we never met them and were never told much, so there's no way to be sure."

"Sweetheart," her mother then added. "Please, under no circumstances are you to tell Lillian about any of this! We will tell her the truth someday, but not until she's old enough. Until then, I just want you to pretend like this day never happened, okay?"

Cornelia chewed her lower lip. "But, mom, I…"

"Cornelia, she's only a little girl!" her mother almost wailed. Her husband laid his hand on hers again, attempting to calm her.

"Cornelia, we have always trusted you to do the right thing," he said assuredly. "Now, I want you to do the right thing by not only us, but by your sister as well. Like your mother just said, she's still only a child. She's far too young to understand any of this or why we kept the truth from her. When the time comes, I promise you, we will tell her the truth, but NOT before. Understand?"

Their eldest daughter looked lost for a moment, but finally Cornelia just relented and sighed, nodding at them. "I won't tell Lillian anything," she promised.

Her mother gave a sigh of relief, while her father just smiled gratefully at her. The two of them looked as if they had just had a heavy burden taken off them, or at the very least, one they could now share with another.

"Thank goodness that's all settled then," Elizabeth Hale replied. "Now, I had better go in and make up with Lillian before she never speaks with me again." With that, she hurried over to Lillian's bedroom.

Harold Hale smiled again at his first daughter, feeling proud of her maturity, while Cornelia herself just felt lost in thought.

'I promised I would never tell Lillian,' she thought, 'but I never said about anyone else.' She knew it was not right to speak about such a private family matter with outsiders, but she also knew that because of who her sister really was, that such a thing could not be kept from her friends.

Tomorrow, she would tell all that she had found out to the other Guardians.

0000000000

**Sheffield Institute; Next Day:**

"Lillian's adopted?!" Hay Lin almost shouted in surprise.

"Shhh!" Cornelia hissed furiously, glaring at her. "I doubt my parents would approve of me telling the family secret to anyone, you know. If it weren't for Lillian's _special circumstances_, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"Well, it certainly explains a lot of things," Taranee added. Like Cornelia, she had wondered how Lillian could have been born the Heart of Earth, when the rest of her family (minus her sister) were all powerless.

"Maybe," Will frowned. "But it makes you wonder though who her real folks were then."

"My parents _are_ her real folks!" Cornelia insisted, eyeing her dangerously.

"Yeah, I know, Cornelia," Will replied, holding up her hands in peace. "I didn't mean anything by that. I just meant her birth parents, that's all. I mean, you'd think we would have noticed someone with the embodiment of all Earth's magic flying somewhere around the world sometime, wouldn't you?"

"How could someone who was a mystic Heart die anyway?" Irma asked. "With all that power, I wouldn't think it was possible."

"They may have all the combined powers of a world's mysticism," Taranee explained. "But that doesn't make them indestructible. Take Elyon's birth mother for example. She was the Heart of Meridian, but Phobos was able to drain her of her magic, making her powerless."

"And besides," Hay Lin added. "None of the Hearts we've heard of have ever been immortal before. They all lived and died just like the next person. Guess that means they're open to things like disease, old age, murder and stuff, too."

Cornelia shrugged. "I guess."

"We could go to the Oracle for more info?" Will suggested. "Just to know a little more about Lillian's birth parents."

Cornelia squirmed a little, unsure. "I don't know about that," she admitted. She had just found out that her sister was adopted, her birth parents were dead and gone and whom no one apparently even knew existed. She was still reeling from the shock, and was in no mood to start finding out things about her sister's natural parents.

"Oh, come on," Irma teased a little. "Aren't you even a little bit curious?"

"No," Cornelia replied, but she had to admit that her curiosity was tickling. "Well, okay, maybe a little."

"It might also help us out in the future when Lillian gets her powers back and starts asking about her magical heritage?" Hay Lin chipped in eagerly.

"Yeah, and there's no sense going in blind," Irma said wisely. "When Lily starts asking, it'll be best to have all the answers ready."

The Earth Guardian had to admit that she saw the logic in that. With a little resignation, she sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's go speak to the Oracle."

"What, _now_?!" Taranee said, startled.

"It's lunchtime!" Irma said exasperated.

"Yeah, but we don't know how long we're gonna be gone!"

"It's only to get a little info. We'll be back before you know it."

"Knickerbocker already gave us the look for being late yesterday, and you wanna tempt fate again?" Taranee said, staring almost incredulously at her friend.

That was enough to make Irma pause. "Umm, okay then, maybe after school would be better."

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2.**_

0000000000

**Kandrakar; Few Hours Later:**

After school, the Guardians immediately journeyed to Kandrakar, intending to speak with the Oracle and ask him about Lillian's birth family, but what the Oracle had to say was definitely _not_ what they had been expecting.

"Lillian's adopted?" he said, sounding honestly surprised.

"What?!" Will said in exasperation. "How could you, of all people, not know _that_?" He didn't foresee Nerissa's attack, he didn't know why the Heart was playing up, and now he apparently didn't even know that Lillian was adopted.

'For an Oracle,' she thought, 'this guy sure doesn't seem to know a whole lot.'

He frowned for a moment, his face looking troubled. "In meditation, I foresee certain events yet to be. I knew that one day a young girl would ascend to be the next Heart of Earth, but I knew nothing of her life before her ascendance. I just assumed that she was of your blood-kin, Cornelia."

"But you're an Oracle," she replied. "Aren't you supposed to, y'know, know everything?!"

"Is the spell that Nerissa put on you still working?" Hay Lin asked, worried.

The Oracle shook his head. "No, it was removed the instant that we were freed from her prison bubble. But even Oracles, such as I, do not see and know _everything_, Cornelia. There are a great many things in the universe that I know next to nothing about."

"But shouldn't you know about things like the people who are due to be the next Heart of a world?" Taranee queried. "I mean, you knew Lillian was going to be the next Heart of Earth, which is why you made Cornelia the Earth Guardian. We got that. But shouldn't you know more about her past, where she came from and all that?"

The Oracle remained still for a moment. Although he had no expression on his face, the girls could sense something was wrong with him.

"I did try at one time to look into Lillian's past," he explained. "But…I was unable to see anything."

"Uh?" Irma made a confused face. "What does that mean?"

"I mean what I say," he repeated. "I tried to look into her past, but my visions told me nothing. That means that either she had no past to begin with or…someone or some_thing_ is blocking my sight."

Nerissa was the first thought that crossed everyone's mind, but since she was imprisoned forever, and the spell used to tamper with the Oracle's sight had long since been removed, it didn't seem likely.

"Does anyone else besides Nerissa know how to block your power?" Taranee asked.

"None that I am aware of, but there are a great many powers in the universe, Taranee. Even I do not know all of them."

"Can't you do anything to counteract it?" Cornelia said, frowning.

"Deep meditation has always helped strengthen my power. In time, I am confidant that I will overcome whatever force clouds my sight. Do not worry yourself so."

Hay Lin frowned. "What is it that you do know about the Heart of Earth, Oracle? I mean, Lillian obviously wasn't the first, and since most Mystic Hearts, like Elyon, are all blood-related, then chances the last Heart was obviously an ancestor of hers."

"Doubtful," he told them. "For the last Heart of Earth had no heir, hence no one to pass her power to."

"What was she, a nun or something?" Irma joked lightly.

"No," the Oracle simply replied. "She was killed in battle."

"Ah," Irma, after a lengthy pause, added awkwardly. "Okaaay."

"Who was she?" Hay Lin asked, interested.

"Beata Serce, a young Jewish girl who lived during your world's 'World War II'. Her people were being rounded up by the Nazis and taken to Concentration Camps, so she used her power in an attempt to free them. Unfortunately, she underestimated the Nazis' guns, and received a bullet to the head, killing her on the spot. She was but a young girl of 18 when she died, with no living family."

"Oh God, that's terrible!" Hay Lin wailed. She had never liked reading history about the war, as stories about the Nazi Concentration Camps and the Jews had always terrified her.

"And with no heir then the power of the Heart had no one to pass to," Will deduced. "Is that what happens whenever a Heart dies with no one to claim them? They just vanish."

"Not exactly," he explained. "If the current Heart has no living relatives, then the power can be taken and passed on to whoever slew them, like in a ritual contest where the winner takes all. But the victor first has to lay claim to the Heart's power before receiving it, announcing him or herself as the next rightful vessel."

"So a Nazi soldier got the Heart's power?" Cornelia asked, a bit disturbed. Somehow, she doubted that Lillian would like to know about that certain branch on her family tree.

"No, no one ever got the power. Since the German officer who killed her had no idea what she was, let alone anything about her power, he made no claim to it, nor ever received it."

"So what happened to it then?"

"It remained in a state of what I believe you humans call _limbo_. A place set between this world and the next. It remained there in what you might call a state of hibernation, waiting until it was called upon by the next heir."

"But no one ever did?" Taranee added.

The Oracle shook his head. "No, and with the death of the officer who killed the former Heart, who apparently had no heirs himself, the power of the Heart was forever lost."

"So how did Lillian come to have it then?!" Cornelia all but demanded.

"That is an excellent question," the Oracle replied. "Unfortunately, it is one that I cannot answer. I do not know how Lillian could come to possess the Heart of Earth's magic, when all rightful heirs to it have long since been dead. It is a complete mystery to me."

"Swell," the Earth Guardian muttered.

"Do not trouble yourself though, Cornelia. For it matters not where your sister came from, but where she is now that truly matters." He looked deep into her eyes. "No matter what her origins, she is now and will forever be your sister. Never doubt that."

"I know," she muttered, and she did believe that, Nevertheless, she couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the whole situation. Why did her parents know nothing about Lillian's birth family? Neither of them came from big families. Why had they only found out about this branch of the family after Lillian came to live with them? And why wouldn't the Social Services give them any information about the birth family?

If Lillian had been adopted the usual legal way, then she could understand that, as it was technically illegal for families to know anything about the birth parents of their adopted child. But Lillian had already been family. Both Lillian's parents, birth and adopted, had been related, so why shouldn't her folks have been told about them?

Well, Cornelia decided, if the Social Services and the Oracle weren't going to help them, then she would just have to find out the hard way.

She remembered that her mom's sister, Aunt Lorna, had once done a big family tree investigation, going back several generations all the way to the 1700s. If anyone knew anything about these so-called distant cousins of theirs, she would.

0000000000

**Two Days Later; Sheffield Institute;**

**0800AM: **

Over the next couple of days, the girls went about their personal business. While the rest of them were busy with school and family, Cornelia had contacted her aunt, asking her if she could look into those so-called long lost relatives of theirs, Lillian's birth parents.

Her aunt had been hesitant at first, not wanting to go against her sister's wishes or do anything without her or her husband's knowledge, but Cornelia had always had a way at getting her aunt to do what she wanted. She had pleaded with her in her ever so sweet voice, saying she would be doing it for Lillian's sake, and before long she had her aunt eating out of her hand. Her Aunt Lorna had said that she would see what she could do, and would get back to her niece in a few days.

Cornelia had been satisfied, and had spent the next day getting ready for her dreaded Algebra test.

As the five Guardians met up outside their school, they were greeted by an uncommon sight outside the gate…an ambulance.

"_It was real, I tell ya!"_ the disturbed cries of Mr. Jenkins, their school's janitor, yelled out. _"A demon, straight outta Hell! It damn well near killed me, if I hadn't run for my life…!"_

"Alright, old son," one of the paramedics said, trying to calm the old man down. "We'll have some guys check out the school to see if it's still there." He looked at his fellow medic, rolling his eyes to indicate what he thought of the old man's ravings.

"Hey, guys!" Alchemy, an old friend of Cornelia and Elyon, said as she ran up to them. "You wouldn't believe what's been going on around here lately."

"What's happened?" Cornelia asked, eyeing Mr. Jenkins as he was carted away by the medics. "I know old Jenkins was always a crackpot, but I didn't think he was that far gone."

"Happens when a ghost tries to take a bite out of you."

"Huh?" all five of them said, staring at her.

"You remember when that so-called ghost was leaving all ectoplasm over the place?" Alchemy explained.

The Guardians suppressed a smile at that, as the so-called ghost their friend was referring to had actually been a Meridian beast called a Hermeneuta, a large boar-like creature that could make itself invisible. It had come into their world by accident when a portal opened up, leading to their school.

"What about it?" Will asked.

"Well, apparently, it's back!"

"Huh?" they all said again.

"What are you saying?" Taranee said, her face a blank. "I thought it was Uriah and his guys who did all that stuff. They were caught red handed."

They hadn't intended for Uriah and his gang to take the fall for the Hermeneuta antics, but it wasn't as though they could take the blame themselves, at least not without revealing their secret. At the time, it had seemed like the perfect way to conceal the truth about the Hermeneuta's visit. Plus, aside from their parents, Miss Knickerbocker was one of the people they least wanted to discover their double lives.

"You, me and everybody else," Alchemy muttered. "But something got into the school again last night. Mr Jenkins saw it, and he swears it was some kind of monster."

"Could have been Uriah again," Irma said, shrugging. "He and his group aren't exactly known for being original. They're probably just repeating their old tricks."

"That was the first thing Miss Knickerbocker thought of, too. But she contacted their families, and according to their parents all of them have been at home for the past week. Seems they got themselves grounded for something, and none of them has set foot outside their houses, except for when they went to school. So it couldn't have been them."

Will hissed under her breath. She wasn't worried that Uriah and his gang had now been cleared of the business with the Hermeneuta, as it had been over a year since then, so she doubted that anyone would find anything concerning the invisible Meridian boar. But what concerned her at the moment was that if the school was getting vandalised again, then there was a chance that the creature had returned.

"We'll see you later, Alchemy!" she said hurriedly, grabbing Irma and Cornelia's arms, dragging them off, and indicating the others to follow them. "Miss Knickerbocker wanted us to do something for her this morning. Better not keep her waiting. See ya!"

Hay Lin and Taranee quickly followed them around the corner and out of sight, leaving Alchemy blinking after their abrupt departure.

"Was it something I said?" she wondered aloud.

"What was that all about?" Cornelia asked, snatching her arm away from Will's steel grip.

"You heard her!" the Guardian leader replied. "Some…_thing_ has invaded the school again. The last time that happened, we found ourselves battling a 1000 pound boar with the power to make itself invisible."

"But that was over a year ago," Hay Lin remarked. "And besides, we sent that beastie and its mother back home to Meridian."

"Yeah," Will admitted. "But who's to say they didn't come back, or maybe one of their relatives?"

"Doubtful," Taranee said, frowning. "The Hermeneuta came to Earth through one of the portals that opened because of the Veil. But the Veil's gone, and the only way a portal can be opened now is if someone deliberately opens it. And only Elyon, the Council and we can do that."

"What about Blunk's Tooth?" Irma suggested. "And don't forget the time when he got hold of Phobos's Seal, and went around opening portals all over the place?"

Will shook her head. "Blunk's Tooth doesn't exactly create portals, it folds someone directly from one place to another. And once they get there, the Fold closes right behind them."

"The same thing for the Mage Ring, too," Cornelia added. "And even if it weren't, the Council has it now, and I seriously doubt they'd be opening portals for monsters to trash people's schools."

"There is another possible explanation," Taranee suddenly said, hesitantly.

"Which is?" Will asked, looking at her.

Taranee took a deep breath. "Well, it's only a theory, mind you, but… When we drove those Hermeneuta back home… What if we didn't drive _all_ of them away?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know that film with the giant Japanese lizard?"

"Godzilla," Irma offered helpfully.

"Yeah, that. You remember what happened at the very end of the film, when they thought they had destroyed it?"

"Oh yeah, that was one of my favourite scenes!" Irma laughed. "When everyone was all left feeling relieved that Godzilla was dead, the scene switched back to where all those eggs were and showed one of them still alive and hatching."

Will's eyes widened, as she got what Taranee was suggesting. "You think the Hermeneuta mom might have had another kid, which she left behind?"

Taranee shrugged. "Like I said, it's just a theory. It may have come through the portal with her, or with its older sibling, and got separated."

"Why wouldn't the mom have taken it back with her, like it did it's other one?" Hay Lin queried.

"Maybe it didn't know it was there or thought it was dead, I don't know. Some animals abandon their young right after they're born, and remember that this is a Meridian creature, one that we know next to nothing about. Who knows what its instincts are?"

"Even if that were true, why has it only just started showing itself? Why now?" Irma added.

"Maybe it was too young and afraid to try anything before, or maybe perhaps it was in some kind of hibernation cycle. We'll have to ask Caleb everything he knows about them before we can form a hypothesis."

"Or maybe," Cornelia then spoke. "Maybe it's not the Hermeneuta at all?" She looked at them. "Up till now we've all been suggesting that it's something we've faced before, but what if it isn't? What if it's another creature altogether?"

"Something that came through with the Hermeneuta?" Hay Lin said, cocking her head thoughtfully.

"Whatever," Will said. "It doesn't matter how it came here, but what does matter is what it's doing here now, because right now it's trashing our school. And if something's not done right away, the school is eventually gonna start calling experts to come deal with it, and eventually they'll come face to face with this thing, whatever it is. And considering what we know about Meridian's wildlife, chances are this thing won't be friendly, and the authorities won't know the first thing about how to deal with it."

"Another late night stakeout?" Cornelia moaned.

Will nodded. "We'll meet up tonight at around 10:00. We'll track this thing down, and when we do then we'll pack its backside back to Meridian ASAP."

"Should we call Caleb?" Hay Lin asked.

Will shook her head. "No need. The five of us should be more than enough to take on whatever this thing is."

"After what happened the last time?" Taranee said, near shocked.

Their leader shrugged. "Hey, we didn't have even half of our powers back then. We should be able to take out some dumb beast."

The rest of them looked doubtful, considering how the Hermeneuta had whipped their backsides the first time they fought it, but Will was correct in saying they hadn't had their full power back then. In the end, they all agreed she was right, and even if it wasn't a Hermeneuta, the five of them should still be more than enough for any beast.

"So, 10:00 tonight, okay?" Will said. The others nodded. "Meet you at my place then."

0000000000

10:00 PM:

"Just tell me why these stakeouts always have to be done in the dead of night, please?!" Cornelia moaned, as the five of them exited the Fold into the school. They had met at Will's apartment, as planned, claiming to their parents that they were there for another sleepover, changed into their Guardian forms and then folded over to the school via Meridian.

"Oh, quit your whining," Irma replied snidely. "It's not like the rest of us aren't missing our sleep, too."

"Quiet down, guys," Will whispered. "Part of being on a stakeout is not talking and giving ourselves away."

"I think its fun," Hay Lin said, smiling brightly.

"You would," Irma moaned. "You find everything fun."

"Cut it out, will you?!" Will told them, using the Heart of Kandrakar like a torch, shining it over some dark corners.

"Ugh, I forgot how spooky this place was at night, with no one around," Cornelia shivered noticeably. "Gives me the creeps."

"You've fought crazy sorcerers, moving sandpits, a giant snake-man and spider-woman," Irma said incredulously, "and an empty school at night freaks you out?"

Cornelia sniffed. "Hey, you were afraid of a giant pickle." She said, referring to the time when Nerissa invaded their dreams, making them live their worst fears. Irma's was where she was forced to stand in front of a large crowd in a goofy dress with Martin Tubbs, as well as a giant pickle-man (she never could stand pickles!).

"That was the dream!" Irma insisted.

"Knock it off, you two!" Will hissed through her teeth.

They made their way down to the school's cellar, as that had been where they had last faced the Meridian creatures.

"Nothing seems out of place," Taranee speculated. "There's no monster goop or anything, like there was last time."

"That seems to confirm that whatever this creature is, it's definitely not the Hermeneuta then," Will figured. "So either Jenkins did truly go bonkers, or your other theory about there being a second monster was right."

"Nothing against Mr. Jenkins," Irma revealed, "but I seriously hope he's a few plums short of a pie."

"Don't count on it," Taranee said, snorting in amusement. "Knowing our luck, we'll be…"

A high hissing sound suddenly vibrated off the cellar walls, echoing all around the five Guardians. The girls all stared about nervously.

"Do you ever get tired of being right all the time?!" Irma asked through her gritted teeth, immediately shifting into a battle-stance, her powers at the ready.

"Sometimes, but not often," Taranee replied, two flame-balls igniting on her hands. The rest of them were just as ready to meet their new would-be prey.

They remained still for a few moments, standing in a circle with their backs to each other, staring with their eyes wide open at the shadows of the room. For a very long minute and a half, nothing happened, not even a whisper.

"There!" Hay Lin shrieked, pointing at a corner on the far end of the room.

Taranee was quick to act, as she threw one of her fireballs into the air, making it hover high in the air, illuminating the room enough for them to see. But what they saw did nothing to ease their anxiety.

It was a huge snake, not as big as Cedric, but way bigger than anything they had ever seen on the wildlife channel.

"As if we hadn't had enough trouble with snakes already," Cornelia whispered frantically.

"Surround him!" Will ordered. "Stay off the ground, so he won't be able to get to us!"

Using their wings, her friends did as they were told, but no sooner had they reached the giant snake, it immediately turned tail and began to slither out of the cellar, faster than Blunk at bath-time.

"Oh, well, that was a welcome change," Taranee joked. "For once, we have a scary beast that's more scared of us than we are of it."

"We can't let it go free," the Guardian leader said, immediately setting off after the overgrown python. "Who knows what damage it could do if we let it stay here!"

Cornelia groaned. "Just once I would like to meet an animal from Meridian that doesn't pose a threat to the rest of the world, is that so much to ask?"

Irma, meanwhile, had been staring at the huge snake with a curious expression on her face. As they all began chasing after the creature, Hay Lin noticed and hovered a little closer to her.

"Irma, what is it?"

Irma frowned, thinning her eyes at the snake, which even now was still slithering away at incredible speed. "I'm not sure, but… I think I know that snake from somewhere."

"You do?" Hay Lin's eyes widened slightly. "You mean from Meridian?"

Irma shook her head. "No, not from there… I can't recall where it was, but… I know I've seen that snake before! I just can't remember where."

Hay Lin was about to say something, but Will interrupted them.

"Guys, come on! It's getting away!"

The girls tracked the creature through a few alleys, over the bridge and across a park, until it eventually made its way into the back of an old warehouse. From the state it was in, it looked as if the building hadn't been used in quite a while. They wasted no time, as they burst into the building through the shattered windows near the roof.

The snake was there, seemingly waiting for them, as it lay curled up on the floor, its thin eyes never leaving them.

"Okay, everyone surround him," Will spoke in a hushed tone. "If he tries to make a slither for it again, grab him with whatever you can. Hay Lin, you suspend him in the air, Taranee, you block his escape with a wall of fire, Irma… Can snakes swim actually?" She looked blankly for a moment, wondering. "Well, even if they do, just… are you listening?!"

Irma shook herself out of her reverie, deep in thought. "Sorry, Will. Yeah, I get it. I'll shoot at it with some water-blasts, keep it from getting away."

"What's with you?"

Irma frowned again. "Sorry, but… Every time I look at this guy, the more he looks familiar to me."

Will was about to ask what she meant, when Cornelia interrupted. "Hey, I got a great idea. Why don't we stay hovering here for a few more hours, talking about Irma's deja vu, and that way he's sure to escape."

Will gave her a snide look. "No need to get snarky, Cornelia."

Taranee hadn't spoken in a while, mainly because she had been studying the snake. Partly because she didn't want to risk losing it, if it made another break for it, but also because…

"Will?" the fire Guardian said to her friend and leader. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this snake…"

"Never mind the chatter, let's just do it, I'm wasting beauty sleep here!" Cornelia said impatiently, and instantly summoned up a small earthquake to aid her.

"Cornelia!" Will yelped, as she felt the tremor even from up in the air.

"Relax," Cornelia told her, holding out her right hand, clenching it before her. The second she did, the floor of the warehouse broke, and dozens of small vines began growing out of the cracks, gaining in size and strength.

"Let's see how this guy deals with some of my own snakes," the earth Guardian said smugly.

"Cor, wait!" Taranee tried to tell her. "That snake, it doesn't…"

The vines grew to surround the giant reptile, each mimicking the snake's own movements, before they snapped up, rushing to envelope it in their coils, but instead…

"What on earth…?!" Cornelia said, shocked. Irma blinked in surprise, Hay Lin merely gasped, while Will just stared, and Taranee simply looked as if she were not even surprised.

The vines had gone right through the reptile. Not piercing its body, but literally right through it, as if it were not even there.

"That's what I was trying to say," Taranee spoke up. "That thing, whatever it is, hasn't got a shadow!"

"Say what?"

Taranee sighed. "While you guys were all busy planning to take Cedric Junior here down, I noticed that it didn't have a shadow. That could only mean one thing…this snake isn't real!"

Will frowned. "What do you mean it's not real? We're looking right at it, aren't we?"

"And we were looking right at Elyon when Phobos tricked her into creating a hundred illusions of herself, back in Meridian. Who's to say…" Taranee suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Hay Lin asked.

"Will, the Heart!" Taranee pointed at the mystic gem, which even now was beginning to sparkle a bright light, like it had done a couple of days earlier, only now it seemed to be glowing even more fiercely than it had before.

"What the…?" Will started to say, but was interrupted by Irma.

"I just remembered!" the water Guardian squealed, making the rest of them jump.

"What?" Will asked.

"That's The Giant Anaconda!"

Will gave her an odd stare, before looking at the snake and then back to her. "Thanks, Irma. But we kinda figured out that's what it was already."

"No," Irma shook her head. "I don't mean that. I mean that's what it's called! The Giant Anaconda from The Black Swamp!"

"Huh?!"

"The Giant Anaconda from The Black Swamp," she repeated. "It's an old classic. One of my all time fave movies."

"Wait a minute!" Taranee suddenly interrupted. "You're telling me that thing's a prop from an old monster movie?"

"_Not exactly, Miss Cook,"_ a voice replied from the darkness. _"It's merely a hologram." _

The five of them turned sharply to face the source of the voice, but thanks to the shadows and the night, all they could see was pitch-blackness.

"Who's there?!" Will demanded.

"Merely someone aiming to collect his rightful property."

"Stop hiding and come out!"

"_Who's hiding?"_ the voice commented, and a bright light shone out of the darkness, illuminating the shape of a man.

The Guardians squinted their eyes at the man's form until they adjusted to the new light. The man appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, Asian, rather handsome, with a tall and well-built body, and a firm set face.

He didn't look menacing, but just the sight of his eyes was enough to make them shudder. There was just something about them that indicated that the man was more than what he seemed. Although they had not noticed it at the time, they had seen the same look in the eyes of Phobos's right hand man, Cedric, when he had been posing as a simple bookseller and met them seemingly for the first time.

"Who are you, buddy?" Irma asked.

The stranger gave them all an annoyed look, seemingly insulted at having been questioned. "As I said, someone who merely wishes to reclaim that which rightfully belongs to him. And I have little time or patience for little girls, even if they are Guardians."

The five of them were insulted at being referred to as little girls, but his last words gave them pause. He knew who they were. What they were.

"I must say you're a bit younger than the last group who wore those colours," the man commented, while adjusting his cufflinks. "Does Nerissa think that I will go easy on you, just because you still have a curfew?"

Will froze then… _Nerissa_?

"You know Nerissa?" she asked.

At that point, the man laughed loudly. "Know her?" he said. "I _made_ her!"

The Guardians were already wary when they met the stranger, but if he knew Nerissa as he claimed, then this revelation focused their attention on him like a laser. They tensed up, each readying themselves for battle, as they circled him.

"Tell me," he continued. "How is my favourite little dark-haired beauty? Does she still think of me on those dark, lonely nights?"

"Wouldn't know," Will replied, her eyes hard. "How about I give you the chance to ask her yourself!" With that she lashed out with her power, letting loose a bolt of lightning from her hand.

He didn't even move, as the energy came crackling at him, nor even when it struck him, bursting into an explosion of dancing electricity. He merely waved the light's tendrils away from him, as casually as he would a fly.

"If you think to defeat, or even _fight_, me with the power you possess, then Nerissa has obviously not trained you well enough, young Guardian," he remarked. "Either that, or you are more stupid than all the past and present Guardians put together."

Will stared at him in shock, but her shock didn't last, as she quickly instructed the others to follow her attack with some of their own. "Guardians attack!" she yelled.

Taranee was the first, as she sent a huge ball of fire straight at the man's feet, hoping to get him off guard. The man, however, seemed to sense her attack and flung himself out of the way; tumbling head over heels away from the fire. The second he touched down on the ground, he reached into his pocket and threw a small grenade-like object at the fire Guardian, and unlike hers, his aim was perfect.

The canister hit her square in the chest and burst upon impact. It released a heavy white substance, similar to fire extinguisher foam, covering her from head to toe. It also got onto her wings, making it impossible for her to fly.

"YEEOW!" she shrieked, as she slammed down to earth with a loud crash, landing on a pile of old trashcans. "Eww, swell! Now I smell like Blunk!"

Irma was next, as she created a flood of water from her hands, shooting it at the stranger. Her aim was exact, striking the man directly where he stood, but for some reason he was not thrown back against the wall behind him.

She stopped the onslaught, releasing her control of the water around her. Once it had all gone, she found the man exactly where he had been standing right before she had hit him with the water-blast… only now he was a statue of stone!

"Nice aim," he spoke, his voice as heavy as the granite he was now made of. He waved his stone hand over a small pendant he was wearing around his neck, and the second he did, his body quickly changed back into flesh and blood.

Irma immediately renewed her attack, but he was quicker, as he took out a gun, took aim and fired upon the water Guardian. The gun was loaded with chemical pellets. As he fired, Irma was already beginning her assault, and when the projectile reached her, she had already half-formed the water needed for it.

The second it passed through the water in front of her, it burst open, causing a chain reaction, making the water as thick as jelly, and sticky as paper mache.

"Hey!" Irma yelped, as the stuff surrounded her, forcing her to join Taranee on the ground with a loud thud.

"Oh no you didn't!" Cornelia yelled indignantly, and with her telekinesis she moved several box-crates from the ground and mentally threw them at him.

He quickly moved out of the way, leaping from side to side, dodging the crates with a speed and agility that would have made Jackie Chan green with envy.

"Nice moves," Cornelia had to admit. "But I'm far from finished!" She raised her hands, once more summoning the vines from beneath the concrete floor, in order to entrap their enemy.

The man wasted no time, and raced straight towards her, and, jumping onto a few trashcans and crates, he leapt right at her, slamming his elbow into her stomach.

"OOF!" Cornelia groaned, her vision blurring as the air went out of her lungs and she fell back down to earth. Her attacker fell with her, but as he fell he swung his legs around himself, turning his body around so that he did a perfect 3/60, landing straight on his feet, like a cat.

Meanwhile, as all this was happening, Will watched as her friends fell out of the air, one by one, defeated with shocking ease by this unknown assailant. Whoever he was, they knew two things about him… One, he knew of Nerissa, which meant he knew of them. And two, he was one hell of a badass fighter!

Hay Lin was now trying her luck, but although Will had the utmost faith in her friend's abilities, judging from their friends defeats, she had the sinking feeling that they would be unsuccessful in this fight also.

Irma and Taranee had managed to get themselves out of most of the gooey stuff that the stranger had covered them with, but they were still grounded. Cornelia was still unconscious, but Taranee and Irma were trying to rouse her.

Whoever this man was, it was clear he knew of them and their power's weaknesses. And they knew nothing about him. They were left with one alternative.

"Taranee! Irma! Help Cornelia and get over here!" Will called over to them. Raising the Heart of Kandrakar before her, which was still sparkling brightly for some odd reason, she summoned a Fold, opening it before them. She looked back to call Hay Lin, but when she did she saw she had been too slow.

"Oh no," she breathed out, as she saw her friend lying in the man's clutches, her arm twisted at an odd angle. "Hay Lin!" she called out.

The man looked over to her, seeming to notice her for the first time. Despite his lack of concern over her presence, he gave her his full attention when he saw what she had in her hand.

He dropped the fallen Air Guardian and raced over to the Guardian leader. "Give me back my heart, you brainless whelp!"

'_His_ heart?' she thought, narrowly escaping his grasp, but he was even quicker than she had suspected. Even with her wings and experience flying with them, this man was not one so easily evaded. He leapt from one stack of crates to the next, keeping up with her without losing a single step, a mere inch barely separating them. She noticed he wasn't even breathing hard.

She soared through the air, making sharp turns with such speed they would have driven the breath out of anyone seeing them. Until finally, Will took another sharp turn, heading back to the Fold her friends had already painfully limped through. Will's distraction had worked perfectly.

The man figured out what she had done, and was rushing after her with a speed that would make a cheetah seem like it was crawling.

"See you later, alligator!" Will called back mockingly, and fled through the Fold, closing it after her. She didn't leave however without first hearing the man give her one last word, or in his case…a promise.

"_We will meet again!"_

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

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**Kandrakar: **

"You're saying this man beat all five of you, despite your combined powers?" Halinor said, her face betraying her shock. To say that what the Guardians were claiming was hard to accept would be a severe understatement. Even more unbelievable was that they said he had done so without using any magic, but simple human technologies.

The girls nodded. Will herself was looking down with a deep frown on her face, obviously feeling the burn of their defeat more than any of them.

"That wasn't all," she then admitted. "This guy, whoever he was, was somehow immune to my power."

"Immune?" the Oracle stared at them, amazed. "There are some creatures that are naturally immune to one of the elements, such as rock creatures immune to fire and electricity and such. But a human has no defence against any of them, at least not naturally."

"He did have some magic on him," Hay Lin revealed helpfully. "He managed to turn himself into stone when we attacked him."

"Ah, so that's how he was able to deflect your powers, Will," the Oracle assumed.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "I blasted him before he changed, but it did absolutely nothing! All it seemed to do was frizz his hair a little, and he didn't even notice that!"

The Oracle frowned. "That…does not sound possible."

"Tell me about it. Don't suppose you have any theories?"

He kept silent for a moment longer, chewing his lower lip as though in deep thought, before he finally answered. "There are ways that a man can partially deflect an elemental energy, but the only sure way I know of to deflect one completely is if the man possesses the power of an element himself."

"This guy had no power, or at least not any of his own," Taranee reported. "All the magic he had seemed to come from mystic talismans, but not from his actual self like our powers do."

"In that case, I have no theory then." The Guardians all groaned.

"We do know one thing though," Will then added. "Whoever this guy was… He was connected to Nerissa!"

The Oracle arched his left eyebrow in surprise, while all the Council gasped. "You are certain of this?" he asked for her confirmation.

Will nodded. "He called her by name. He seemed to think we were working for her."

"No doubt because of your Guardian gowns," the Oracle concluded. "That's the only explanation why he thought that, which means he knows of you, and probably of the Council as well."

"How?" Hay Lin asked.

Taranee shrugged. "Who knows what Nerissa got up to in her spare time? She could have had a number of allies who helped her, wanted her to succeed in overthrowing Phobos, or even get all that power."

"And that in itself presents a disturbing problem," the Oracle said, looking troubled. "If Nerissa did have allies that we knew not of, then that means they're still out there, and if they are aware of Nerissa's defeat then they could be out for revenge."

"Terrific," Irma grumbled. "And the year was going so well up till now."

"Or not," the Oracle then added. "We are but only guessing here. For all we know, this man may be the only ally Nerissa had, or he may not have been an ally at all. I will see if I can find anything out."

"What do you mean?" Hay Lin asked, looking at the bald man, but he made no reply.

The Oracle stood where he was, a blank expression on his face, as his eyes stared out straight ahead into nothingness.

"What's he doing?" Irma whispered, only to have her question answered by Halinor.

"He is using his Seer powers to see through time," she explained, standing by the Oracle's side. "Through that, he will be able to locate and learn about this mysterious man you have encountered."

The Oracle remained as he was as though in a state of hibernation, when suddenly…

"Ahhh?!" he gasped, momentarily stepping back, as if he had been punched.

"Oracle, what is it?" Tridart, the Oracle's most loyal follower and faithful friend, asked in concern, hurrying to his side to steady him.

"A…mental block of some kind," he replied, holding his head. "Like… banging myself into a brick-wall."

"Did you find out anything?" Halinor asked what everyone was thinking.

"Alas no, "he replied sadly. "Whoever this man is, he has somehow managed to deflect and blind my sight."

"Like when Nerissa tampered with your powers?" Cornelia queried.

"No, Nerissa merely suppressed my abilities, making it difficult for me to see. This stranger has literally shielded himself completely from my magic. Like hiding one's self behind a locked door."

"So what are we to do now?" Irma moaned.

"There is no way now for me to know of him," the Oracle said, frowning. "Whoever he is, he is clearly skilled in advanced mystic arts. I do not know of any ways for us to learn of this possible new menace unless… " He paused.

"Unless what?" Will all but demanded.

The Oracle sighed. "Unless we ask Nerissa herself."

All five of the girls and the rest of the Council were silent.

"I…didn't know that was possible," Will asked. "Can you talk to her while she's still inside that jewel?"

He shook his head. "No. Her imprisonment in there is a result of a combination of the magic from the Hearts of Meridian and Zamballa, for breaking her word to Yan Lin and the others for attempting to escape without them, and for not being in harmony with them, which caused some kind of backlash. Hence her imprisonment in an eternal dream-state."

"Well, then how do you propose we talk to her?" Cornelia asked, though she suspected what the answer would be.

"The only way we can…by releasing her," he replied simply.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"_No way!" _

"_Release that witch! Are you crazy?!" _

"_We just defeated her, and now you wanna just let her go?!" _

"_We've already got one bad guy on the loose, we don't need another!" _

"_We do that, and Nerissa will be out for blood quicker than you can say… "_

"ENOUGH!" the Oracle roared, silencing everyone into submission. They all stared at him in great surprise, as none had ever heard him lose his temper or shout out before.

"I understand what you are all saying, and I respect your feelings," he explained. "I would like to point out, though, that I was merely listing an option for you to take if you so wished. I was certainly not insinuating that you _had_ to do it."

The Guardians remained silent for a few more moments, before Will finally spoke. "Oh… Okay then. So you're not planning on resurrecting her anytime soon then?"

He shook his head. "Not if you are against it. You were the ones who defeated her, and I sincerely doubt that Queen Elyon, Yan Lin and the others would react too differently from the way you just did if we were to do so. I myself have no desire to see her again anytime soon, considering the months she had me and the Council kept in her prison bubble. Therefore, if your desire is to keep her under lock and key, then so be it."

The girls all heaved a sigh of relief.

"However, since that option is not appealing to you, then you will have to find out who this mysterious man is by yourselves. We the Council will contact those on other worlds, to see if they know anything of this stranger you seek, but alas that is the best we can do."

"Great… As if fighting Nerissa on our lonesome wasn't enough, now we're the research team as well." Irma groaned.

"Couldn't you find some other way of communicating with Nerissa?" Taranee suggested. "Maybe make telepathic contact with her or something, like when Halinor did with me when she and the others were all trapped in there?"

"Unfortunately, no. Remember, Halinor was the one who first contacted you, and she did so of her own free will. It has to be the same with Nerissa. She must make the connection herself and be willing to talk to us freely. However, Nerissa is now in a dream-like state within the jewel, so she is not conscious enough to know what is going on, let alone make contact with us. Therefore, a conversation is impossible…at least, not while she is still inside the jewel."

"Couldn't you just break through the jewel's power and speak to her yourself?"

"The magic of the jewel from Weira's crown protects her, even as it imprisons her. Its power in that respect is beyond my own."

"Swell," Irma murmured. "So what do we do?"

"Only thing we can do now," Will moaned. "Taranee, you hit the web and see if anything about this guy comes up. Irma, your dad's a cop, so see if you can find something in their records."

"Just cause I'm a cop's daughter doesn't mean I can go waltzing into a police station and browse through their computers like I own the joint, Will," Irma noted.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to _convince_ them," Will said with a smile, indicating Irma's handy little power of mind control.

"Fine, but what are you three going to do?" she said, pointing to her, Cornelia and Hay Lin.

"We'll go to the library, check out any of the old newspaper articles and see if there's been any news of him before."

"Great!" Cornelia said brightly. "I'll _supervise_."

The rest of them all turned to look at her with thinned eyes.

"What?"

0000000000

**Heatherfield; Two Days Later: **

"Hi, dad!" Will greeted her father cheerfully, as he opened the front door to her. She always looked forward to their weekends together.

"Hi, love," said Tony Vandom with a smile, though his cheeriness seemed forced for some reason.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Tony sighed. "Look, love. I'm real sorry to do this. I wanted us to spend our first evening together alone, but… "

"But what?"

He sighed again. "We've recently had a new client come to the firm, and I've been chosen to represent him. It's a big deal for us, and… I swear I tried getting him to change the date to next week after you were gone, Will, but Mr. Hexin was most insistent that we get together and discus things tonight."

Tony was a lawyer in a large law firm. His business often took him out of town, which no doubt played a big part in his failed first marriage, and why Will hadn't seen a lot of him when she and her mom first moved to Heatherfield. Thankfully, though, his firm had opened up a new office in Heatherfield, allowing him to move there permanently. The two could see each other regularly now.

She had found it hard at first to get along with his then new fiancée, now his wife, Sarina Sanchez, but over time she had come to accept the woman, and found her to be quite the good person.

Sarina was currently away, taking photos in South Africa for the magazine, where she worked as a photographer. That had been the main reason why she had been looking forward to this weekend, because although she did enjoy Sarina's company, she did find it a little hard to spend time with her dad whenever she was around. Like most newly wedded couples, Tony and Sarina spent most of their time making kissy faces at each other. With Sarina gone this weekend, she thought she would have his complete attention.

Plus, it would have gotten her mind off the stranger for a while. She and the others had been searching non-stop for anything of him for the last two days, but so far they had come up with nothing. She had hoped this small break with her father would help recharge her batteries, but apparently it was not to be so.

"So we've got company for dinner tonight," Will said, confirming what her father was saying.

Tony looked at her, and winced at the disappointed look on her face. "I know. I really did try and get him to reschedule to next week, but he said he wanted to discuss our new partnership ASAP."

Will mentally shook herself, fighting off the disappointment, and smiled brightly at her father. "Hey, no big deal!" she said, seemingly honestly. "We've still got the rest of the weekend together, and maybe it won't be so bad having company for dinner."

Tony smiled. "Atta, girl."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Tony looked over, sighing. "That'll be him now. The man's been most kind to arrange reservations for us at Bella Italia, that fancy Italian restaurant. Everything's all on him, so feel free to pig out all you want."

"Awesome!" Will brightened up. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad after all.

Her father went up to the front door to answer it, checking first through the peephole before turning the knob. "Welcome, Mr. Hexin," he said warmly, steeping aside to let his guest in.

"_Thank you, Mr. Vandom_." The voice was distinctive and easy to remember, so she recognised it instantly.

Will looked over in shock, as the stranger walked into her father's apartment. He smiled thinly at her, his sly look like that of a snake.

"Hello again, Miss Vandom. I was hoping we would meet up again."

"You know my daughter?" Tony asked in surprise.

"Oh yes, we…_met_ a few days ago. An enchanting girl, with a very _electrifying_ personality, if I may say."

Tony looked to his daughter for clarification, but all he saw on her face was a look of pure shock.

"Yes, I first met her while she was in the middle of demonstrating a few of her fighting skills to her friends," Hexin explained. "She is quite the little warrior, your daughter. Had she been born but a few thousand years ago, I've no doubt her skills would have heralded her as a warrior queen."

He then turned back to Will's father, smiling warmly. ""But come, we have business to discuss. Shall we depart?"

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**Next Night; Silver Dragon: **

Hay Lin wiped down the last of the tables in her family's restaurant. Tonight was a busy night, as wave after wave of customers came flooding in through the door. The only table left available was one that had been reserved.

"Hey, Hay Lin?"

She looked up, and smiled to see Cornelia smiling back at her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"My dad's got a business dinner with a new shareholder for his bank," the Earth Guardian replied, sounding bored. "The guy is meeting us all here. That means I'm gonna be stuck listening to business talk all night."

"Oh well, cheer up," Hay Lin said. "I'll get grandma to give you the house special! Say, did you hear from Will?"

"About the guy showing up at her dad's place, heck yeah!" Cornelia checked around to see if her family was anywhere near, but her folks were still outside, her dad paying the cab fare and her mom cleaning Lillian's face. "Will couldn't say much because her dad was listening in. Seems she wasn't exactly polite to the guy at dinner, so her dad was a little ticked off at her. Anyway, whoever this guy is, he's some sort of business creep. That probably means he's not from Meridian if he's got cash and his name's well known here."

"Not necessarily. Cedric was only here a short time before he got himself his own bookstore and was making friendly with Miss Knickerbocker."

Cornelia frowned. "Maybe. But Will told me that her father said this guy's an owner of some big corporation, really into the big dollars. That's a heck of a long way from running a small time bookstore!"

"Did she say his name?"

Cornelia shook her head. "Didn't have the chance to, as her dad came in and made her hang up. Since she hasn't called back, I can only assume her dad must have confiscated her cellphone."

"What about…?" Hay Lin started, but she froze in mid-sentence.

"What is it?" Cornelia looked around, and she too froze.

"Greetings, my little imps," Ian Hexin said, smiling thinly at them.

"Cornelia, my dear," Cornelia's father, Harold Hale, spoke up behind the Asian man. "This is Mr. Ian Hexin of Hexin Industries. He is the one kind enough to buy us dinner tonight."

"Please, no trouble at all," Hexin said politely. "And to you, Miss Hale, a pleasure to see you again."

Cornelia actually gulped, as Hexin revealed him meeting her already. If her family were to ever learn the truth about what she and her friends got up to when they weren't in school, she didn't know what they'd do.

"I didn't know you already knew my daughter?" Harold said, surprised.

"Oh yes, Cornelia and I met a few days ago. Isn't that right, my dear?"

Cornelia looked like she was chewing on tin foil, as she bit her lower lip.

"And Miss Lin, wonderful to see you again, too," Hexin then turned his attention back to Hay Lin. "As always, it is enchanting to see the beauty of China."

Hay Lin smiled nervously, but was thankfully spared having to say anything, when her grandmother spoke up behind her…

"Welcome, welcome!" Yan Lin practically cheered "So nice to see new and old customers again. Please, allow me to show you to your table."

"Many thanks, Mrs Lin." Hexin bowed respectfully before her. "And may I say it is an honour to finally meet you in person at long last. I'm sure you must be proud of your granddaughter following in your footsteps, both in the restaurant business and in your other…_career_."

If Yan Lin was fussed over what he just said, then she did not show it. She merely smiled and showed them all to their table for the evening. "My granddaughter has excelled in all her duties since birth. Our family couldn't be prouder."

"I'm sure." Hexin looked around the restaurant. "You have also masterfully recreated the beauty of your homeland here. This place must have surely cost you a great deal to build."

"We do what we must," she simply replied.

"Still, to run a restaurant like this must be a great strain on your finances I shouldn't wonder," he added, dipping his fingers into the water-bowl, washing them. "To build it and then keep it afloat. I can only hope that no bad tiding come your way, Mrs Lin."

"If they do then they do," Yan Lin said, shrugging. "We will then have to simply ride out the storm, and deal with whatever problems the Fates dish out to us as best as we can."

"Sound advice. Let us all hope that you have clear weather from here on."

As he talked, Cornelia sat down with the rest of her family, her face set in stone for fear of betraying any of her emotions. While Hay Lin stood by, her fists clenched tightly. Though Hexin's words may have seemed harmless, she knew them for what they really were… They were a warning.

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**Two Nights Later; Silver Dragon: **

"It's awful!" Hay Lin squealed beneath her breath.

"You got that right," Cornelia added gruffly. "He knew who we were and made snide comments all through the evening. There wasn't a single moment when I didn't think that he was going to reveal our secret to our folks! I kept thinking any minute now I was going to have to start dealing with my mother's shrieks and dad's yelling."

"You think you had it bad?!" Hay Lin replied, almost shocked. "How do you think I felt? Do you know what would happen if my parents were to find out about me being a five-foot fairy? You've seen how protective they are of me!"

"Guys!" Will yelled out to silence them. "This isn't helping! Believe me, I know what you're going through, as Hexin did the exact same thing with my dad and me. I spent the whole night playing the game with Hexin, and terrified he would spill the beans, up to the point when my dad thought I was just being impolite and rude, and got me grounded all the time I was with him."

The two others took deep breaths, as they forced their heartbeats to slow down.

The five of them had got together the first chance they got after Hexin had first revealed himself to them. It had been hard though, as Will had been less than diplomatic to the guy when he showed up at her dad's apartment. Tony Vandom had been…_enraged_, to say the least, about his daughter's behaviour to his new client, for what he believed were truly harmless comments, and had grounded her for her remaining time with him. Worse, he had spent the whole weekend in with her, rarely leaving her alone, which would normally not be a bad thing, but she hadn't a moment to herself and had been unable to contact the others or tele-transport to them.

And every time when she got a moment to call them, the others were all busy with their own families… and Hexin.

"You're not the only ones," Irma then added. "This Hex guy got me, my folks and Taranee's family together, too."

"What happened?" Cornelia asked in concern.

Taranee shrugged. "Mr. Hexin asked Irma's dad and my mom together to talk about the latest crimes committed by teenagers and young people. He claimed he wanted to talk to Irma's dad since he was a cop, and knew about criminals, and my mom because she's a judge. We ended up dining together at my house…with Hexin."

"Hope your stealth skills were better than mine," Will muttered.

"But who is this Hexin guy anyway?!" Irma all but shouted. "How does he know about us, how could he deflect your powers, Will, and how does he…?!"

"Chill, Irma," Cornelia hushed her. "We're all going through a tough time right now."

"Right," Will agreed. "Hexin knows more than even we figured. He knows who we are, about our families, and he knows just what buttons to press to get our ire up."

"This is just like the time when Shagon went after our families," Hay Lin said, remembering how Matt, when he had been Nerissa's Angel of Malice, had gone after them through their loved ones. Matt had now long since been freed of Nerissa's grip, and was currently one of the three Guardians to Cornelia's sister Lillian, the Heart of Earth, and on vacation with his parents in Hawaii.

"Don't remind me," Taranee muttered, remembering how Shagon had once gone after her brother Peter.

"Never mind that now," Will told them. "We've got to figure this out, and find out just who this Hexin guy is?"

"Well, I did some research on him on the net," Taranee explained. "He's the owner of a multi-national corporation called Hexin Industries. It's an old company that's been around since before the First World War, and is one of the richest there is. Hexin himself seems to be really into history, as he's funded a lot of archaeological digs, and collected various historical artefacts from all over the world."

"Not too strange for a rich tycoon, then," Cornelia mumbled. "Seriously, what is it with rich men and old stuff?"

"Do you know anything else about him?" Will enquired. "Checked his bank accounts or stuff like that?"

"Hey, there's only so much I can do on the net, you know, Will!" Taranee replied. "I'm smart, but I'm no Hacker. I only know what's on there and available."

"Is there anything to suggest that he might not be from around here?" Irma asked. "He may be from Meridian."

Taranee shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I doubt it. If he is from Meridian, then he and his family have been here long before even Phobos was born. As I said, I've found articles about the Hexin clan going back to before the First World War, and even more going further back."

"So what do we do?" Cornelia asked. "If he's human, then that means we can't just defeat him like we did Phobos, Nerissa and the others. They were either magical, from another world or both. If Hexin is human then that means we can't just fight him and banish him to a magic cell."

Will frowned. "We need to take a step back, find out everything we know about him."

"But what do we know about him?" Hay Lin whined.

"We know who he is now," Will replied. "He is Ian Hexin of Hexin Industries. He knows about us, the Guardians, and he knew of Nerissa… "

"All of which is useless to us, Will," Taranee added, sounding a bit hopeless. "Face it, the guy wasn't afraid of revealing himself to us, and we only know what he's either told us or whatever's been told to the public. And it's more than likely that he was the one who told it in the first place."

"So in other words, we've all got squat!" Irma grumbled.

Will wanted to deny this, but deep down she knew they were right. Hexin had them all in a bind. He knew who they were, their names, homes, families and everything else. And all they had was whatever had been printed in the newspaper or uploaded on the Internet, which could all be nothing but a pack of lies.

"So what can we do now?" Cornelia added.

Will sighed. "We'll have to go back to Kandrakar," she declared. "Whoever this guy is, he is far more dangerous than any of us suspected. He knows our real identities, about our loved ones, who to hurt to get to us, and he can get to us anytime he wants! We're gonna need help."

With that, she took out the Heart of Kandrakar and opened a Fold…

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

"This is…gravely disturbing," the Oracle replied once the Guardians had finished informing the Council of all that had transpired within the last few days.

"Mucho points on the obvious, dude," Irma muttered, earning a hot glare from Taranee and the others.

"Is there anything at all you can tell us, Oracle?" Will asked the leader of the Council.

The Oracle shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. Nothing has changed since the last time you asked this of me. I have tried the deepest of meditation with the strongest of magic, but alas nothing new has been revealed to me."

"Well, what do we do then?" Cornelia demanded. "If Kandrakar can't tell us anything then where do we go from here?!"

The Oracle's face grew grave, as he looked at them all. "I'm afraid I can only think of one option left open to us."

"No!" Will said fiercely. "I know what you're going to say, Oracle, and I still say it's a bad idea!"

"The only way we can find anything about this new enemy, is if we ask the only person that we know of who has had prior dealings with him." the Oracle explained.

It didn't take the rest of the Guardians more than a few seconds for them to realise whom he was referring to.

"Nerissa."

He nodded. "The stranger mentioned her by name, did he not? We have exhausted all other options. We know nothing of this man, whoever or whatever he is. And Nerissa is the only link we do have."

"There has to be another way!" Will said, practically pleading. "We tried making a bargain with the devil once before, when we released Phobos, and look where that got us."

"Back then you did not have the aid of the Council," he said assuredly. "I promise you we will take everything into consideration. _Nothing_ will be left to chance! Nerissa will not be allowed to gain the upper hand with us."

"If we've learnt anything about her, it's that she's capable of anything!" Will insisted. "Even if you do take every precaution, there's every chance she'll find a loophole somewhere."

"Perhaps," the Oracle said quietly, but still he did not lose his intent stare. "But as I said before, _what choice have we_?"

None of the girls could argue with that, for every word the Oracle said was true. They were all clean out of options, and the stranger, whoever he was, was more than powerful enough to take them all on.

"I don't like this!" Will hissed. "I _reallllly_ don't like this!"

"I can assure you, Will," the Oracle said, sighing. "You are not alone in that respect."

0000000000

A few hours later, after the Council were finished making the preparations, the Oracle, Tyburn, the Guardians, Julian and Caleb had all gathered at Kandrakar. They had decided to keep the group as few as possible, hence why Elyon, Yan Lin or the others were not present.

"Are you ready?" Oracle asked Caleb, holding out his hand for the object.

Caleb had a frustrated look upon his face, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Weara's jewel. Within the jewel the face of Nerissa could be seen by all, her eyes closed in a peaceful slumber.

"I'd like to point out that I'm totally against this!" Caleb announced, handing the jewel reluctantly over to the Oracle. Despite Nerissa being his mother, he had never forgiven her for the way she had used him, his father and everyone else in her quest for domination over all the known worlds. And he knew firsthand how dangerous she truly was.

Julian, meanwhile, said nothing, as he kept to the side, watching everything unfold, his eyes betraying no emotion.

"Duly noted," the Oracle replied simply. "No one likes this." He then carried the jewel over to a small area away from everyone else, placed it on the floor and waved his hand, causing a row of energy bars to erect themselves around the gem.

'This is _not_ going to end well,' Irma thought to herself, but kept her mouth shut.

The Oracle held his hand up, his eyes closed as he recited a spell in a language long forgotten. A few moments later, the jewel began to pulse and shudder, a shining light glowing bright from within it, causing the visage of Nerissa to fade. A second later, the sound of crackling was heard, and the jewel shattered, causing a bright explosion of light.

When the light died down, and the spots had faded from everyone's eyes, the jewel was gone, and Nerissa lay in its place.

"Ummm," she moaned, as she slowly opened her eyes. "Wha…?"

"Looks like the spell worked fine," Hay Lin said, her voice a low and dark tone.

"Great,' Irma replied humourlessly. "Let's celebrate… I'll crack open a bottle of cyanide."

"Where am I?!" Nerissa suddenly demanded, springing up from the floor, only to be detained by the energy bars of her temporary cell.

"In Kandrakar, Nerissa," the Oracle replied, walking slowly toward her.

She glared at him, her eyes shining with pure fury. "How did I…" she began, but paused and frowned. "The last thing I remember, I was trapped in my Seal. Yan Lin, the others and myself were attempting to escape when…"

"When you went and got yourself trapped inside again," Will finished, almost smirking at her. "To escape from the jewel, you all had to be in perfect harmony, but you weren't. So while the others escaped, you ended up trapped inside again, in a sort of dream state, which is where you've been ever since!"

Nerissa's eyes blazed. "How long?!"

Will shrugged. "About six months, give or take a couple."

"But…I'm awake now?" the dark-haired sorceress questioned. "And I'm free, why?"

"Believe me, you're not the only one asking that question right now," Cornelia muttered.

Just then, Nerissa noticed Julian and Caleb standing over to the side, neither of them not looking too thrilled to see her. "I suppose it would be too much to expect that the reason I'm here now is because of your insistence?" she asked.

Neither of them answered her.

"You're here only because…" Will started, but the Oracle silenced her.

"That will be quite enough, Guardian," he said calmly, but sternly. She noticed the hard look in his eyes, and reluctantly backed down. "Nerissa, you have a chance for leniency," he explained to the former Guardian.

Nerissa laughed. "Leniency? And why, pray tell, should you wish to give me that?"

"We believe you may have information that we require, concerning a stranger that has recently appeared to the Guardians. We know not who he is, but he has mentioned you by name, and knew of the Guardians and their powers."

Nerissa seemed to pause at that, as she stared at him silently. "Any idea who this stranger is?"

"He called himself Hexin."

Nerissa's eyes widened so much so that there wasn't anyone present who did not notice, nor did not guess that whoever this man was, Nerissa was definitely familiar with him.

"If you want my help, then what do you have to offer?" she then asked simply.

"We will grant you a full pardon for all your past aggressions," the Oracle continued. "However, your pardon will come with a certain condition."

"Oh?" she said, eyeing him warily.

"Before we release you, you must take an oath, swearing by the power of Kandrakar, that you will not attempt to seize control of any other world's power source ever again. You will also swear not to attempt taking over another world, not even your own, for any reason whatsoever. Keep in mind, if you break your vow then you will be instantly transported back to your old cell on Mount Thanatos."

Nerissa thinned her eyes at him, no doubt imagining the worst kind of fate she could envision for him. But in the end, she sighed and relented. "Agreed."

"Be aware also that this time there will be no chance of escape," he added. "There will be several guards posted at your cell, numerous charms and spells to ensure your eternal imprisonment, we will drain your former Guardian magic from you, and the Veil is gone now, so there is no chance of a portal opening to release you… "

At the last few words of his sentence, Nerissa suddenly broke out laughing. "Oh puh-leese!" she chuckled. "Did you honestly believe that load of hogwash I gave you? I merely said that to defer you from asking questions about how I _really_ escaped."

Everyone stared at her.

"What do you mean?!" Caleb demanded, speaking to his mother for the first time since her awakening.

Nerissa gave him a short look, but said nothing.

The Oracle sighed. "What do you want, Nerissa?"

"My freedom," she replied. "But also the Mage's books and scrolls from the Infinite City on Meridian."

Will snorted. "You must be mad to think we'd agree to that! After all the trouble you gave us last time, do you really expect us to hand you all that knowledge and power?"

"The knowledge, spells and talismans in those caverns are mine by right," Nerissa insisted. "The Mage took me in and trained me as her apprentice. Upon her death, I took on the role as Mage, and have acted as such for eighteen years."

"Only because you killed her!"

"Enough!" the Oracle commanded, bringing total silence to the room. He stared at Nerissa, his eyes searching hers. "What Will Vandom says makes sense, Nerissa. Why in all creation should we give you access to power such as that?"

"Because you are going to need all the power that you can get!" she told him, staring hard back at him. "The man you know as Hexin… He is far more dangerous than anything you can imagine. Compared to him, Phobos was no more than a saintly prince."

Her words brought little comfort to all, but neither did they make them want to trust her.

"You say you want me to take an oath not to attempt taking over anyone else's world ever again," she continued. "Well, then there is no reason why you shouldn't let me have what I want. The oath will prevent me from using any of the knowledge for my own gain."

"You've always found ways of getting out of your promises, Nerissa," Hay Lin said darkly. She clearly remembered the day when she had tricked them all into fighting one last battle, ending the war between them once and for all, only to be tricked, for although they had sworn not to flee the battle, Nerissa had not.

"My terms are not open for negotiation," Nerissa said finally.

A few moments of silence endured, until the Oracle spoke again. "Whenever you are within the Infinite City, there will be someone, of Queen Elyon's choosing, with you at all times. You will report all that you do to them, and should they believe that anything you find within the Mage's chambers should not be for you, you are to relinquish it at once. Understood?"

Everyone stared incredulously at him, except for Nerissa who merely looked enraged. But in the end, she relented, sighing and nodding at him. "Agreed."

"Then take the oath, tell us all you know of the man called Hexin, and freedom will be yours."

She held up her hand, sighing seemingly in boredom. "I swear by the power of Kandrakar that I will never try taking over another world again, nor steal another's power-source. Satisfied?"

The Oracle waved his hand, and the energy bars surrounding her dissipated.

"All right, now talk!" Will ordered. "Who is this guy and how do you know him?!"

Nerissa gave her a short glare, but then sighed and began to explain. "Very well. First of all, how did I really escape from my cell on Mount Thanatos? Simple answer, really… Someone released me!"

"Hexin?" Will said, guessing what the answer was already, but wanting to hear it from the witch's lips.

"I suspected as much," the Oracle then said, earning a shocked look from everyone.

"You knew?" Taranee exclaimed.

He shrugged. "I knew nothing of the stranger, but the part about Nerissa escaping through a portal…I knew she had to be lying."

"Why didn't you tell us, then?!"

"At the time, it wouldn't have made any difference. My fellow Council members and I were trapped within Nerissa's Veil-Bubble, so how she came to be free in the first place was irrelevant."

"And how did you come to realise I was lying then?" Nerissa questioned, looking snidely at him.

"I didn't at first. When you first made the claim, I had no reason to suspect otherwise. But when Julian and Caleb informed us that you had been living on Meridian, posing as the Mage for at least 18 years, I knew that you had to be lying."

"Why?" Hay Lin asked.

The Oracle shrugged. "Simple logic," he explained. "Recall, the portals you Guardians were originally called upon to watch over, were a direct result of the Veil the Council had placed around Meridian, to contain Phobos's evil?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you also recall _when_ I told you that the Veil had been erected?"

"When Elyon escaped Meridian, shortly after she was born… " Taranee replied, and her eyes slowly widened, as she began to understand, "…nearly 15 years ago!"

The Oracle nodded. "And as I just mentioned, at the time Nerissa had been in Meridian for at least 18 years…about 4 years _before_ we raised the Veil."

"So it couldn't have been a stray portal!" Taranee deduced. "Because there was no Veil at the time to make any!"

Nerissa spared a glare at the Oracle, and gave a loud scoff at the Fire Guardian. "Very astute, little Firefly. Incredibly slow, but astute."

Taranee's eyes flared at her, but a calm look from the Oracle helped her to keep her cool.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Will repeated the earlier question to the Oracle.

"There didn't seem to be any point. How she came to be free was irrelevant. All that mattered was that she was out and causing havoc, and needed to be stopped. When she was eventually defeated, she was in magical stasis, so there was no need to worry anymore. There was also no way to find out, and no point alarming you with what might or might not be a problem."

"Perhaps you should have done, old friend," Nerissa said icily. "If you had done, then maybe you would be better prepared for the dangers that you now face."

The Oracle stared at her, but did not retaliate. "Perhaps," he simply said. "But tell us everything now, Nerissa. We've already established that it was really this Hexin who freed you from your prison. Question is, _why_ did he? And how did you end up on Meridian?"

"That's not all you need to know, Oracle," she replied. "You all know that I had been living on Meridian for about 2 decades by the time you discovered me. What you don't realise is that, although I had been on Meridian in most of that time, I had actually been out of my cell on Mount Thanatos for close to 30 years!"

The Oracle and Tyburn both gave a satisfyingly astounded look. "_How_?!" they demanded. "The spells on your cell were designed to alert us the instant you ever escaped!"

She smirked. "Maybe your spells aren't as powerful or well crafted as you believe them to be."

Will ignored her snide comments, and just stared hard at her. "_How_…did you escape?!" she asked finally.

Nerissa looked around, staring at everyone's stern but focused faces, until finally she just shrugged and began her story…

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Mount Thanos;**

**30 Years Ago: **

'The walls…walls closing in…' Nerissa's deranged thoughts went around and around, taking her nowhere, as she stared at the impregnable stonewalls of her cell. They weren't moving of course, but after so many years with no one but herself for company, she could no longer differentiate reality from imagination.

"I think I've gone a little loopy, wouldn't you say, Cassidy?" she asked her late friend, which was nothing more than a pile of sheets in front of her. Every now and then, her departed friend would take on the form of whatever item there was in her cell, not that there was much in there. Her cell consisted of the stone-walls, energy bars, some sheets and some edible moss that grew on the back-wall. There was even a small trickle of water at the back, supplying her with fresh water, and a small hole that she used as a lavatory.

The cell had everything needed to keep her alive, but nothing to keep her sane. She had been trapped there now for almost ten years, ever since that damned Oracle had left her there to rot!

"Only here till I face my guilt, HA!" she sniggered blatantly. "What, pray tell, have I to face? Tell me, Cassidy old friend, what, WHAT?!"

But, of course, as always, Cassidy had no answers for her. The Oracle had imprisoned her there as punishment for killing Cassidy, saying she would remain there until she faced her guilt and redeemed herself.

"I didn't mean to kill you!" she insisted. "I only wanted the Heart of Kandrakar back, as it was mine to begin with! Why couldn't you just relinquish it without a fuss?!"

For the first two years, her old friends Kadma, Halinor and Yan Lin had come to visit her often, but over time the visits had stopped. They claimed that their duties as Guardians made it hard for them to find time to come, but she knew better.

"They never wanted to come anyway!" she snarled. Even before the _accident_ with Cassidy, although they had been civil and somewhat close as companions, they had never truly been her friends. Only Cassidy had been her true friend, as they had known each other since kindergarten. The rest were all just people who hung out with them.

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" she yelled, her screams echoing off the walls of the cavern. "It wasn't…it wasn't…it was…"

"_Glad to hear it_," a new voice suddenly spoke.

Nerissa spun around, once more facing the bars of her cell. They were composed of pure energy; the sort that her Guardian powers should have been able to bend to her will, except this kind of energy was pure magic, immune to elemental power. Worse, they were enchanted to prevent anyone disabling them, and should anyone attempt to do so then they would instantly sound an alarm, alerting the Council of Kandrakar.

When Nerissa stared between the bars, she found a man staring back at her. The man was handsome, apparently in his early 30s, with a well-built strong body. The only thing that ruined his perfect image was his eyes. It wasn't that they were ugly, but they just seemed so…so…dark. And the way they stared right at her, looking as though they were searching her very soul, unnerved her.

By then, she thought that she had well and truly gone mad.

"A pleasure to meet you," the man said, bowing before her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ian Hexin, of Hexin Industries. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

A few minutes passed, but Nerissa said nothing. She was still adjusting to the fact that there was actually someone in her cave, with her, for the first time in years. She had fantasised about there being other people with her, but they had only been delusions of a mind that had been kept in solitude for one too many years. But all those delusions had been of people she knew, and this man was one she had never seen before in her life.

"Are you real?" she finally asked. She knew it was a stupid question, like something a baby would ask, but her mind was still adjusting.

"Yes, quite so." He replied. "And judging from your reaction, I assume no, you have not heard of me." He stepped closer to her cell, which in turn made her back off.

"Have no fear," he said assuredly. "I am not here to hurt, but merely to offer an opportunity."

"Opportunity?" she said quietly.

He nodded, slowly walking around the cavern, examining everything in sight, though there was little else except her, her cell, the rocks and snow. "As I already stated, I am the head of a multi-national organisation called Hexin Industries. My organisation has holdings in virtually every industry from nuclear missiles to canned dog-food. However, that is merely for show…" He reached the bars of her cell, placing the tip of his finger up next to them.

"The true heart of my organisation is for a purpose unknown to the rest of the world. To investigate, contain and learn about all manner of supernatural activities reported all over the entire planet."

"When you say supernatural…?"

"I mean mystical, my dear lady," he confirmed for her. "Over the years, my people have acquired a number of talismans and information that allows them to do things beyond humanity's comprehension. One of those things gains us the ability to detect magical energy in certain areas. That is what led me here, to you."

"Me? Why?"

He shrugged. "You tell me… As I said, our means merely detected the presence of something magical here in this cave, on this mountain. We knew not what it was, let alone _who_ it was. We just knew it was here. So I came here to investigate, and lo and behold, I found you." He lightly tapped his finger against the energy bars, causing them to fizz and sizzle a little. "Clearly you're a being of magical powers, my lovely, but would you care to explain why you're here?"

Nerissa paused for a moment. She had by then accepted that this man was no delusion. That meant only one thing, and that was that for the first time in nearly a decade she had a means of escape from her incarceration! But she had to play it safe, as one wrong move might send this man running from her, and she'd lose her chance for freedom. However, she had a distinct advantage for the moment, and that was this man had a thirst for knowledge and power, something she was very familiar with, and one she could exploit and use to her advantage.

Hexin, as that was his name, obviously knew she was not what she appeared to be. He had told her his resources had discovered the presence of something mystical, and that could only be her. So she had to tell him something…

"I…am Nerissa," she said slowly, still finding it hard to speak. Although she had accepted Hexin as real, after so many years alone she found it hard to start talking to someone other than herself. "I am…or I was once a Guardian."

"Interesting," he said. "A Guardian of what, may I ask?"

"Of a place unknown to you, another world called Kandrakar."

It streaked across his face in but the fraction of a second, so fast that she couldn't be certain that she had even seen it, but for one brief moment she thought she saw a look of what she could only describe as pure longing…and triumph.

"Kandrakar?" he asked. "Interesting. Maybe you could tell me more about it?"

"I could…" she said, giving him a small smile. "But what's in it for me?"

He returned her smile with one of his own. It was not a pleasant expression. She wouldn't admit it, but his stare and smile made her want to run and hide. "I can offer you two of the things you crave most."

She chuckled. "What could you possibly know about what I want?"

"A great deal, I imagine," he replied, staring at her again with that same cold and calculating gaze. "In business, being observant and a good judge of character is necessary to success. Judging by your surroundings, you have obviously been incarcerated for some reason. To be sealed within a cave, in a mountain, no one to talk to, and judging by your appearance…" He indicated the state of her clothes, which had definitely seen better days, and her generally haggard appearance. "I'd say it's been a while since you've been to a hair salon. All a bit drastic I say, but hey, for all I know these Kandrakarians have a medieval type of justice system."

She lost her smile. "I was betrayed," she seethed, as she remembered how her former friends Yan Lin, Halinor and Kadma had left her to rot here.

"I'm sure. Just as I am sure that besides freedom, the one other thing that you desire most of all is…vengeance!" He smiled at the expression on her face, as she turned to him again. "I'm right, aren't I? Those are the things that you crave most, freedom and revenge."

"Not revenge!" she insisted. "Justice! I was judged unfairly, and then left to rot here in this stinking cell for all eternity!"

"Of course, _justice_. My mistake," he apologised. "But either way, what chance do you have of accomplishing either of those things while you're stuck here, languishing in this prison till old age and death claims you?"

"I would escape in a heartbeat if I could! But these bars are enchanted not only to keep me in, but if they are ever disturbed then my former employers will be alerted to my escape instantly! There is no safe place on earth that I can run or hide."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that." His smile grew. "Perhaps I can offer a demonstration, as well as a free sample."

"What do you mean?"

"You desire freedom and revenge. I shall give you the first, and should you wish to depart on your own, then so be it. If not… Well, let's see, shall we?"

She laughed. "How can you possibly…?" she began, but Hexin was not listening, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small mirror, with a small box of electronics attached to it.

He moved right up to the energy bars, opened the mirror and placed it right between two of the bars on the ground. The moment he did so, the lights of the bars reflected off the bottom of the ground, joining with the other two next to them, and created a large gap in the cell's entrance.

"Maybe I can't destroy the bars of your cell without being noticed," he admitted, "but not every problem requires a violent solution. Sometimes, the simplest of methods prove to be the most effective."

He motioned for her to move forward, and for the first time in almost a decade, Nerissa walked free.

The second she passed the energy bars, she felt as though she had been holding her breath for hours, and only now was she finally able to let go and breathe. She was free! At long last, she was free!

Mere words could not express the emotions that Nerissa felt at that moment. She was anxious, elated, overjoyed, thirsty, hungry, and wanted to do a million things all at once.

"Now, doesn't that feel better?" Hexin asked, never losing his smile, a fact that spoilt the moment a little for her.

"How did you…?"

"I told you," he said, reaching down to retrieve the mirror, which when removed instantly reverted the two bars back to their original position, once more sealing the supposedly inescapable cell. "My organisation studies all things mystical, and we also have access to all the world's most advanced of technology. I find a combination of science and sorcery can prove more effective than either one alone."

She didn't know what else to say. She had just adjusted to there being someone other than herself in her cave, and now she had to adjust to actually being out of her cell for the first time in years.

"I've kept my word," he then said. "What happens next is your decision, my dear."

"What do you mean?"

"I said I would give you one of the two things you desire most, which I have done. You have your freedom, and as a sign of good faith, I will even have my escort drop you off wherever you want to go. Only question is, once you go there…what will you do?"

Nerissa opened her mouth, but couldn't think of an answer. What was she going to do? She was an outcast of Kandrakar, so she couldn't go home. With Cassidy gone, she had no one to turn to. Everyone else she knew would most likely turn her in to the Council straight away.

"Do you still desire veng… Sorry, I mean _justice_?" he then asked her.

Nerissa looked up at him, and nodded. Yes, that was the one thing she was still positive about. She had lost nearly ten years of her life, thanks to that damn Oracle! Now, it was payback time!

"Then how do you intend to carry out your task, if I may ask?"

Nerissa paused at that, because frankly she had no idea. As she had just realised, she had nowhere to go or anyone to turn to, she had no resources to speak of, and barely any knowledge of sorcery or science with the exception of her Guardian powers, which were now at minimum. Since she no longer had the Heart of Kandrakar, her powers were now weakened, and with no Heart to fuel them they would gradually drain her own life-force the more often she used them.

Normally, that wouldn't be so bad while she was still young, but she was now almost 30. The more she used her power, the more it would drain her until she had practically no life left.

Taking all this into account, the idea of her wishing to bring down the Oracle, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, was laughable. There was no way she could achieve it.

"You have no idea, do you?" Hexin confirmed. "_But_ there is a way."

"How?"

"Join me and my organisation. Tell me everything you know about Kandrakar, its secrets and your former position with them. In return, I will share all the knowledge in my organisation that will aid you in your coming war with them."

"Why would you do this?" she asked, looking suspiciously at him.

"As I said, my organisation was created for the research and capture of all things mystical. As for why I'm giving you this…" he explained. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and knowledge for knowledge, plain and simple. You give me something worthwhile, and I in turn give you something equally worthwhile. That is the whole purpose of my organization after all."

Nerissa didn't buy that for one second. There was definitely something off about Hexin that she couldn't quite put her finger on, something sinister. But try as she might, she could see no other option open for her. She was all alone in a world, in a universe where she was the outlaw with nothing and no one to turn to.

Besides, she need not tell him everything about Kandrakar. Better to leave out a few details, just in case if she ever needed something to bargain with him in the future.

"Very well," she agreed.

0000000000

**Washington D.C.; 8 Years Later: **

Agent Nerissa Sanchez of Hexin Industries made her way through the vast underground corridors of the company's main headquarters. The official building up above was large enough, with its 40 storey high offices of glass and iron, but gigantic when combined with that of the vast complex hidden beneath it, consisting of laboratories, numerous libraries on virtually every subject, and display rooms of countless artefacts the company had gathered from all corners of the globe.

Even with a map, it was possible to get lost in the underground complex.

After Hexin had freed her from her cell on Mount Thanos, he had brought her to Washington where his main headquarters was located. It had been disconcerting for her to be around so many people, after years of isolation, but when Hexin had showed her his vast library, she soon adjusted.

She had spent the next few weeks, after that, getting used to her new environment and spending a lot of her time in the libraries.

The knowledge he possessed was astounding! She doubted that even the Mage of Meridian had this much information. He had virtually everything, from detailed instructions on spirit-walks as performed during the time of stone-age cavemen, to modern Voodoo curses.

In addition to the knowledge he possessed, he provided a few extra benefits…a deluxe apartment to use as she would, $100,000 annual wage, and free access to most of the company's advanced technology and mystical items. Because of the last, she had many magical talismans at her disposal, which meant she no longer had to rely solely on her limited Guardian powers.

That was one of the job's main advantages, as without the Heart of Kandrakar her powers now slowly drained her life force, and now that she was in her late 30s, the price of using her powers without a conduit was high. And she had no great desire to lose half her years, not to mention her youthful looks. She now only used her powers in an emergency.

But, as she soon came to realise, nothing in this world came free, and Hexin made that clear when he asked her for all information regarding her former position as Guardian for Kandrakar. He seemed really interested in the Council and their Fortress at The Heart of Infinity, but she supposed that was natural, as that was his job, to find out all he could about such things.

So she gave him all the information he asked for. She told him almost everything he wanted to know about Kandrakar and the Guardians…but not everything _she_ knew. She stayed true to her original plan, and kept a few bits and pieces of info handy just in case. He knew of the Guardians, but nothing about who they were or where they lived, except for her and Cassidy. Since she was dead, Nerissa saw no reason to keep anything about her a secret.

She explained that the rest of them were girls that had been chosen by the Oracle to be his soldiers of justice (not something he had literally said, but it had seemed more or less true to her, since that was the reason he had called them in the first place). Cassidy and she had been friends since kindergarten, but the rest were all strangers to them (that was a lie, as they had all attended the same school together, though the five of them had never got close until they were 13).

She told him about the Oracle, the rest of the Council, their Fortress, and of course the Heart of Kandrakar itself.

For the second time since he had rescued her, Nerissa swore she saw his eyes light up when she mentioned the Heart, if only for an instant.

He seemed to forget all about the Council and Guardians, and concentrated more on the Heart. He had asked her for all she knew about it, how she had gotten it, what it had been used for, and one he seemed most insistent on…where was it now?

Nerissa had answered his questions efficiently, telling him how the Oracle had given it to them, and before them it had been kept in the Fortress for several centuries, fuelling the power of the Council. When Hexin again asked where the Heart was now, she explained that she didn't know. She had been the Heart's original keeper, but the Oracle had taken it from her, giving it to Cassidy. When Cassidy died (by pure _accident_!) and she had been imprisoned, the Oracle had taken the Heart away. She could only assume that one of the other Guardians now had it, but who that was and where they were now was unknown to her.

Hexin had kept his face neutral and stoic, as he always did, but she could practically smell the disappointment and anger rising from him.

Everything else she kept hazy at best, but she did provide him with more than enough information to keep him happy. He had also helped get her settled in Washington by providing her with a deluxe apartment as her new home, and a job as one of his new agents. With her guardian powers that gave her an edge in a fight and her obsessive drive to learn, the better to seek her revenge, she soon became one of his most valuable employees.

She entered her office, sighing as she went to her desk and computer. Hexin had access to all sorts of technology decades ahead of the rest of the world.

Despite her security level, though, she was still kept in the dark about pretty much everything (something she detested). She watched and learned, gathering as much information about her benefactor as she could.

She noticed immediately that he made numerous trips to places in Europe, mostly to the excavation sites of what appeared to be old Nazi concentration camps. She had attempted to find out why from some of the other agents, but none could tell her much about anything, as they had been ordered not to discuss it, or they just plain didn't know. Hexin was most efficient when it came to secrecy, even more so than Nerissa herself.

She spent most of her time studying all the books within Hexin's collection. She discovered many interesting things about Earth and its mystical history. She made special note of the existence of some kind of inter-dimensional gateway in an old street in Washington.

The gateway was located, at present, in an old store that had been abandoned for some years. It had been sold and rented out a few times, but no one who bought it ever wanted to stay. There were stories that there had been strange sounds coming out of nowhere, and one man even claimed that he had suddenly found himself in a whole other world. The locals all believed the old store to be haunted, and thus had stayed far away from it.

There was no mention of where, precisely, the gateway led to, but according to her research, such a gateway could not be opened without a source of magical energy to fuel it. The only other way the gate would open on its own, was if it had been left undisturbed for a good many centuries, allowing it to store up enough energy to open, and even then it would only open once or twice, and then more centuries would have to pass before it would open again.

If the story about one of the shop's former owners, finding himself in another world, was true, then the gate's energy was now spent for another few centuries, thus, the only way to open it was to use a source of magic to fuel the gate. If there was such an item in Hexin's headquarters, then it was nowhere her security clearance granted her access to.

Nerissa had just returned from a mission in Cairo. She had been sent there to do some research on an ancient relic that had recently been found in the Egyptian desert. The relic was an old staff, which judging by its engravings and the sun-based style of it, it was one probably used by ancient priests of the sun god Ra. There were rumours that the staff had mystical properties that could harness the powers of the sun.

She had been sent to investigate and confirm whether or not the staff was genuine. It had taken her a while, as the security at the Cairo museum where it was being kept was top notch and not easy to get around. Not to mention all the spells she had to research to find out which ones would get her the answers she needed. In the end she succeeded, only to find that the staff was just that, a mere staff of gold. Excellent for decoration, lousy for magic.

She picked up the phone to contact Hexin's private secretaries, and inform them as to when they could expect her report.

"_Hello?"_ the voice on the other end sounded.

"Agent Sanchez here. I have just returned from Cairo. I have the report on the…"

"Many thanks, Agent Sanchez, but that will not be necessary for the time being. We are preparing for Mr Hexin's return."

"Return?" she queried. She had been unaware that Hexin had even left during her absence. "Where has he been?"

"_On another excursion to Europe. I believe he was there investigating some digs near an old concentration camp." _

"Why?"

"That is all anyone is privy to know about. You may hand in your report tomorrow. Good day." The secretary hung up before Nerissa could say another word.

She fumed. Another trip to Europe, she thought, and again to an old concentration camp? What was it he found so fascinating about WWII history?

She frowned, chewing on her lower lip.

0000000000

**Two Days Later: **

Over the next two days Nerissa grew increasingly frustrated. She had tried to get in touch with Hexin, but he had been uncooperative. He only sent a reply, saying that what they were working on did not concern her, and she should concentrate on her own cases instead of snooping into others.

If it was one thing Nerissa detested above all else, it was to be left out of the loop, and Hexin was doing just that! She had gone through it with the Oracle, and she was damned if she was going to let Hexin do the same to her!

Over the course of the next two days, she learned very little about what he was up to, but she was able to find something at least. When it became clear that she wasn't going to get anything from Hexin's personal staff, she decided to try other methods.

She skimmed through every report, from the highly detailed to those that recounted simple rumours, on her computer screen. She had used every resource available to her in the company, from hacking into the government's reports concerning the excavation sites, to viewing reports from the airport when Hexin had returned home.

She knew that Hexin had been to Poland at the site of an old concentration camp. The reason why that knowledge was not secret was most likely because Hexin wouldn't have been able to hide it even if he wanted to. Having someone like Ian Hexin, a prestigious businessman, having his company help fund an excavation was not something easily hidden.

So far, all she had learned about the reason Hexin had funded the digs was because he seemingly had a vested interest in WWII, but nothing other than that.

Actually, though, he had not been to the camp itself, but a spot a few miles outside of it, in what had once been an old field, now a construction site. Apparently, the people who had been doing the construction had located the remains of more than 100 human corpses. It was believed they were former prisoners of the camp. Sometimes, the prisoners' bodies were simply dumped in a hole, buried and forgotten.

For some reason, Hexin was interested in these bodies beyond all else, so much so that he had provided the latest technology available to the scientists working at the digs. He seemed intent in learning the identities of the people buried there, though many told him that was unlikely, as the Nazis had destroyed all their records at the end of the war, particularly those in their camps, so identifying the deceased might not be possible. But Hexin was insistent, and since he was the one signing their cheques, they had complied.

Hexin had spent several weeks out there, overlaying all the site's progress reports until finally, for some reason; he just suddenly packed up and returned home. Nerissa found this most interesting of all, as he had not requested that the lab-boys provide him with continuous progress reports, which could only mean one thing; he had found what he had been looking for. Whatever that was, though, was still a mystery.

There was no mention of him taking anything from the sites, however she did discover from the airport files that he had returned home with considerably more luggage that what he had flown out with. But then again, that was hardly unusual, as many people who went overseas often came back with souvenirs.

'But what kind of souvenirs has he brought back?' she wondered.

She checked out the luggage report from the airport, and among them she found that he had also brought back with him a large container, but the specifics on what that container had held were sealed.

Nerissa frowned. It was clear that Hexin must have taken something from the site and brought it back with him to Washington. He had probably paid someone off to look the other way when they were wheeling it out, or simply not reported it when they did. But what could be so important from the graves of old death camp prisoners that had died decades ago, that Hexin would go to the trouble of all this secrecy?

'Perhaps one of the people had something with them when they were buried?' she thought, listing all the main possibilities. She dismissed that option though, as she knew very little about Nazi history, but doubted that the soldiers would let their prisoners keep anything of value with them.

'_Unless it was something they didn't know was valuable?' _

Nerissa checked all of Hexin's latest acquisitions, but there was no mention of anything from Poland. But if it was here, then chances were he would have it in his highest security vault by now, and she didn't possess the security clearance required. She didn't even know where it was, as Hexin kept the restricted archives secret.

Frowning, she thought. In the time she had worked under Hexin she knew one thing, and that was he would never keep anything he considered important far from him. So it stood to reason that wherever the archives were they must be somewhere close by, where he would have easy access.

It was a simple and logical conclusion. The only problem with that was that Hexin's headquarters had more than enough hiding places for such objects. Searching them all would take weeks if not months.

'Where would he keep them?' she thought.

Then she realized that no matter how secret the place might be, he would need to keep records that he could access at will. Such records would be marked for his eyes only. And there was only one place that Hexin spent the most time, and that was in his private study at his mansion-home. She had been there once or twice, but never for long enough to explore.

"Well," she said out loud. "Looks like I'm going into the cat burglar business."

0000000000

**Next Night: **

She hadn't bothered trying to get any information about Hexin's home, as everything that other people knew she would undoubtedly know already. Considering how secretive and security obsessed Hexin was at his workplace, she'd be amazed if he wasn't twice as paranoid about his own home.

Although she rarely used her former Guardian powers, she hadn't allowed herself to get out of practise. She had used some of her free time to learn how to better control her powers, and one of the things she realised she could also do was to make herself invisible to certain security systems, including cameras. It was a simple matter of using her electrical powers to form a sort of dampening field around her entire person, acting to block out her entire form to any form of electronic security device.

The guards, however, were another matter.

Nerissa silently tiptoed the floors of Hexin's mansion, cursing lowly as her shoes echoed on the solid marble. 'This must be one of his ways to spot an intruder approaching,' she thought. She briefly considered taking her shoes off, but she could hear the guards approaching.

Fortunately, the hard floor also served her benefit, as she could hear the approach of the guards well. When she heard them, she quickly used her power to disguise herself as a statue (she had also learnt that she could use her powers to alter her form).

"_Did you hear something?" one of the guards said. _

"_Check the perimeter again. Nothing here."_

The moment they left, the statue returned to its true form, with Nerissa smirking at the departing guards. 'Should things come to the worst, I could have a career as a cat burglar,' she thought.

She made her way through the hallway, taking care to keep her dampening field intact, for if she lost concentration for one second, she would instantly become detectable to the house's alarms. She tiptoed up the stairs, heading for Hexin's study.

She had been to his house only once or twice, but she recalled his study being somewhere in the west wing. It took her a while, but eventually she was able to locate it.

There was no way she could sense if the room was empty or not, so she had to chance opening the door. 'Where's the big keyhole that allows the burglar to spy through?' she thought dismissively. 'Why can't real life be more like the movies and fiction stories?'

Taking a deep breath, and getting ready to disguise herself or flee if needed, she inched the door open. Nothing happened.

Feeling more confident, she pressed the door open long enough for her to poke her head in and look around. The room's lights were on, but no one was in sight. If Hexin had been in here, then he must have just left.

Hurrying inside, she closed the door behind her and then raced to search the room. It looked like any other study, with its expensive fixtures, oak desk with a computer on it, antique ornaments and numerous shelves filled with various books, most of them first editions.

Another thing she had learned about Hexin was that he had an impressive collection of antiques and relics from archaeological finds. Whether here in his house or at his office back at HQ, his collection was amazing. Many of his finds had never been shared with anyone; even the world's most learned archaeologists. When asked about his collection, Hexin merely said that his family had always had a fascination with history, and that was all he gave away.

Nerissa paused when she walked inside. She had never had the opportunity to come to the study and remain long before, so she had never had a chance to get a good look at all the ornaments in here. Most of the antiques looked Asian. Some looked ancient, like first dynasty, and others like they were only made within the last century. There was one thing, however, that they all had in common. They were all inspirations of the same theme…The Four Dragons!

No one outside of Kandrakar, except for herself and the rest of the Guardians, knew that the ancient Chinese tale of the Four Dragons was in fact the same story for the origin of Kandrakar's mystical Heart. Most of what was commonly known of the story was inaccurate or incomplete, such as the Princess Xin Jing who was not even mentioned in the human version of the story.

Nerissa had told Hexin a lot about Kandrakar, but she had never mentioned the Four Dragons, or what they represented. Then again, Hexin was from the orient, and the Four Dragons was a popular Chinese story, so chances were he was probably just interested in the tale because it was from his ancestral homeland.

Pushing these thoughts out of her head, she wasted no further time. "Quintessence!" she recited, cringing as the electricity coursed through her left arm, before shooting out of her hand. The use of her former Guardian powers was starting to have an ill effect on her. Every time she used them, her arm, the one she used to shoot the lightning out of, felt like it was sick with arthritis afterwards.

The computer bleeped and came online by itself, allowing her to literally ask it what she wanted to know… "Computer, I need you to tell me everything you know about Ian Hexin's last trip to Germany. I know he must have brought something back with him from there, but I don't know what?"

"_Humph!"_ the electronic voice of the computer replied, sounding annoyed_. "It's always take-take-take with you humans. Never once do you ask how I am, what do I need or…" _

"Now!" she hissed through her teeth. One of the first things she had learned as a Guardian was how to bring inanimate objects to life, but she had never mastered how to do so without them exhibiting obnoxious, self-centred or overly sensitive behaviours.

"_Okay, okay, sheesh!" _

There was the sound of electronic beeping, and he computer's voice added, _"There's no mention here of anything about a trip to Germany." _

She frowned. "How can that be? He returned only a couple of days ago."

"Hey, don't blame me. I'm just saying what's recorded in me. Maybe you'll have better luck with the other guy."

"What other guy?"

"The big computer in the room adjacent next to this one."

Nerissa frowned again, looking curiously at the computer screen. "There is no room next to this one."

"Says you! I've been here for six months. I think I would know the layout of the room I'm in by now, don't you?"

"But…there is nothing here. The next room is…"

"Look! Say what you will, but I know there is a room next to this one. The entrance is just a few feet from where you are, to the left."

Nerissa looked up, but the only thing located near where the computer had stated was one of the big bookcases.

Suddenly, she paused. 'Well, it's worked for all those spies in movies,' she thought, and walked up to the bookcase.

"Quintessence!" she repeated, cringing in pain yet again. "Books, I need you to tell me if there is a door behind you?"

"_Sure there is,"_ a jabber of voices suddenly chorused, speaking over one another. _"Been one here for a few decades now. The big boss had it installed right before he had the rest of us shelved here."_

"How do I get in?"

"_I can help!"_ a single high voice sounded. _"Pick me!"_

Nerissa looked over in confusion, before her eyes settled on a small plain book with a brown leather cover. The cover read 'The Tree of Knowledge'. The title was unfamiliar.

"_Hardly anyone ever picks me because I've got no words in me to read!"_ the little voice continued.

"No words?"

"_I've got no pages. I'm not even really a book. Only reason anyone ever picks me is when they want to get inside…"_

"You've convinced me," she said quickly, grabbing the book and pulling it out. It only came out a few inches, but the moment it stopped, the entire bookcase started to shudder, as it moved back and came apart, splitting down the middle. After a moment, the shelves were gone, and Nerissa found herself at the entrance into a hidden room.

Swallowing, she took a peek inside. The room turned out to be not all that different from one of the many file-rooms at the company. There was another computer, a few filing cabinets, and endless pages of files and photographs pinned seemingly everywhere.

She walked inside, picking up the nearest file as she came in. It seemed to be old records of the concentration camp Hexin had visited. She wondered briefly how he had managed to get his hands on these. While she was no expert on WWII, she remembered from her history class that the Germans had destroyed all their files when the allies invaded. There were two of every page inside, one in the original German language, and the other its translation.

The files were apparently records of the camp's day-to-day history. This one was that of September 17th 1942. It stated 'Troops encountered resistance today. One lone Jewish girl, around 15-17 years old, upon entering the camp resisted officials. Soldiers report the Jew displayed some kind of unusual behaviour, claimed she was able to control the very earth beneath her. There are signs of some seismic activity, but could just be coincidence, or possibly a trick made by the resistance. The Jew's attack was repelled and she was shot down, killed instantly of a bullet to the head. Identity is currently unknown.'

Nerissa chewed on her lower lip. "Seismic activity?" she thought out loud. "Like Kadma?" She soon dismissed that idea though, as Kadma and the rest of their group had been Kandrakar's first and only Guardians. No one else possessed their power to control the elements. There were some creatures from other worlds that possessed similar abilities, but none from earth could do it, let alone a human.

She read on… 'September 16th 1942. Nazi Officer report. One Jewish girl located. Believed to have been making an attempt to escape. Girl willingly surrendered, giving the name Beata Serce. Will be sent to Concentration camp.'

'The girl surrendered herself?' Nerissa wondered. She looked at the file and noticed a small photograph accompanying it. The photo was an old black and white picture, showing that of a young girl in her teens. She had a stern expression on her face, as she looked out of the photo at her, with fair hair and pale eyes.

If the girl really had caused that earthquake, then that would mean she must have had great power, and the only reason she could think of why anyone in that girl's position would have surrendered…was if she had been planning to escape!

'She must have been planning to liberate some of the Jews in the camp,' she thought, 'but the Nazis retaliated and shot her, taking her by surprise. Even when I was a full Guardian, I could be taken down easily enough, if say I was taken from behind without my ever knowing.'

She searched through more folders, each containing files, all based on the same concentration camp, and Beata Serce.

There was one folder that bore information on Beata's family. Apparently, her only living relatives had been her parents and brother, all of who had been shipped to the camp a couple of days earlier, while she had been _missing_. There was no mention of where she had been, but according to the reports there was speculation that she may have been involved with the resistance.

Beata's family had obviously been the main reason why she had been in that camp in the first place. Sadly, though, according to the records, her rescue attempt had been in vain. For they had all been executed the day before she had arrived.

The rest of the files from the camp were all pretty basic. They said that Beata's body had been kept for scientists to analyse, but they had found nothing out of the ordinary, so it was disposed of, but there was no mention of how or where it had been disposed.

From what little Nerissa did know of the camps that could have anything from cremation to simply dumping her in a hole somewhere.

Something clicked inside Nerissa's head, as the last part of that sentence rolled through her mind…"dumping in a hole somewhere".

"The excavation site!" she deduced. "He's been looking for this girl's body! But why?"

"_Why indeed?"_ a low voice suddenly spoke from behind her, startling her. She spun around in shock, and found Hexin staring right back at her, his face as stoic as always.

"Find anything interesting to read?" he asked casually.

She swallowed the growing fear in her throat. Although she never showed it, Hexin had always given her the creeps. "Some," she admitted, and held up one of the old Nazi files for him to see. "Mind if I ask how you got these? I thought the Nazis had all their files destroyed when the allies invaded."

"They did," Hexin replied. "This is an old file that I had one of my spies send to me during the war. Unfortunately, he was found and executed by his fellow soldiers before he could tell me where they stored and later buried Miss Serce's body."

Okay, that was telling her a bit too much. "Your spies?" she said, blinking.

"Yes, like you. Only those who work undercover."

"Yes, I get what you mean, Hexin, but… But these files are from WWII! You would have to be at least in your 80s in you were around then!"

Hexin smiled, making her nervous again. "I'm far older than that, my dear."

Nerissa paused. "How old, exactly?"

"Older than even I can remember." Hexin moved around to pick up one of the photos pinned on the wall. "This is the girl you have just been reading about. Beata Serce. I have had a vested interest in her and her ancestors for many centuries."

Nerissa wasn't really surprised in Hexin's confession about his age, as she had always known there was more to him than he let on, and she had more than enough experience with the strange and unusual. She was, however, growing increasingly nervous the more things he told her, as what reason did he have to tell her so much…unless he didn't intend to let her go?

"Why her?" she asked.

Hexin merely shrugged. "I require her aid in retrieving something I lost a long time ago, long before you humans ever developed your own languages."

She stared at him, her eyes searching his, and finding…nothing. "Who are you, Ian Hexin?"

He lost his smile, looking dangerously angry, but not at her apparently. "Someone whose birthright was stolen from him!" he all but growled. "Someone who literally had his life and all his power ripped right out of his chest and left for dead! And someone…who will go to hell and beyond to get it all back!" He looked straight at her. "My name, my true name, is Xin Hei-an, Prince and rightful ruler of the kingdom of Kandrakar!"

Nerissa's eyes widened. "Kandrakar…" she said. "But that's impossible. Kandrakar has no ruler, save for the council."

"Only for the last 40 thousand years or so!" Hexin sneered. "Before that, when Kandrakar was in its golden age, it was ruled by a single ruler…an emperor who ruled with strength and an iron fist…Emperor Yu! Until old age began to weaken him…"

"And let me guess," she then asked. "You decided to replace him."

"It was in my right to do so," Hexin insisted. "For I was next in line, and the strongest between me and my sister."

"Sister?"

"The Princess Xin Jing."

Nerissa felt her breath freeze. Until now she had just thought Hexin's words were the ramblings of a madman, but…she had never mentioned the true story of the Four Dragons to him, nor any word of the nymph Xin Jing. She was never even mentioned in the human version of the Dragons' story. Only someone who had been to Kandrakar could possibly know about her.

"Xin Jing was my twin sister," Hexin continued. "Her name means Heart of Crystal. My father named her so for her beauty in spirit. My name, Xin Hei-an, means Heart of Darkness." He smirked. "I have to hand it to my father. He could always look into a person and know what best to call them."

"But…but…" she stuttered.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now," he added cockily, and with his words he reached down to a pen and paper, and began writing. When he was finished, he lifted the paper up for her to see, revealing the name Xin Hei-an on the page, with a line going down from each letter onto the next name below…Ian Hexin. His new name was just an anagram, the letters of his true one rearranged.

"My people were the most advanced civilisation of the age," he said, continuing as though nothing had happened, and speaking with pride. "We were the first to develop our own language, mathematics, writing, religion, science and magic. We discovered how to cross through to other worlds long before others even knew there were other worlds to begin with. Our world was one of true splendour, filled with treasure, magic and knowledge. And at the height of our civilisation, we were watched over and protected by my father's most trusted and powerful warriors…The Four Dragons!"

"The Four Dragons," Nerissa repeated him, "who could control the elements?"

Hexin nodded. "My father's most loyal and most powerful… Di qiu, the yellow dragon, master of earth. Kong qi, the black dragon, master of air. Wang yang, the red dragon, master of water. And finally, Jiong the pearl dragon, master of fire! Each a master of an element of nature."

"I would've thought the red dragon would have the fire," Nerissa said, shrugging.

Hexin shrugged back at her. "You live and you learn. They were powerful, these dragons, the most powerful in all my father's kingdom! But they had little intelligence. They were big in heart, but little in brains. I used this to my advantage, but not until years later." He walked back into his study, waiting for her to follow him. "When my sister and I were born, the Mages of our world foresaw that we would be gifted with supreme power, the power of a new element. It had no name back then, but you know it today as Quintessence!"

"You and your sister both had the power?" Nerissa said, as she re-entered the study and watched him as he sat down at his desk.

"Yes and no," he explained. "We both had the power of Quintessence, but each of ours worked differently, like Yin and Yang, light and dark…"

"Good and evil?"

Hexin looked at her for a moment, and then shrugged. "In a way… But with Xin Jing and me, ours was literally life and death. Where Xin Jing's power could _bring_ life to others, mine could only _take_ it!"

She gulped. "So…you were like the Kandrakar version of the Grim Reaper?"

"In a sense," he admitted. "I could redirect lightning, as well as make my own, and fashion it into an unbeatable weapon of mass destruction. Just as you did when you struck your friend Cassidy down."

Nerissa, for the moment, forgot her fear and nervousness of Hexin, and felt her blood run hot with anger. "I did NOT kill Cassidy!" she insisted. "It was an accident!"

He cocked his head. "Perhaps… In any case, my sister and I both possessed powerful magic, making us equals in our father's eyes. I was his first and only son, so the throne was rightfully mine. But because of our magic, I suspected my sister was gaining our father's favour, and I feared he may decide to give the throne to her…so I took steps."

"Steps?"

"I spent the years of my youth training in a vast variety of subjects, from advanced martial arts and weapons training, to black magic and sorcery! I spared no expense, learning anything and everything I could that could help better my cause. And when I grew older, I began to cross over into the other worlds that my people had explored, seeking out all the dark forces that existed in each of them, and gathered them together to forge an army of monsters, mages and various other creatures to do my bidding. It took the better part of a hundred of your generations to complete, but eventually I succeeded!"

"A hundred generations?"

"Time to my people is somewhat different to you and yours, Nerissa. What counts as a lifetime to you, is no more than a quick second to us."

He offered her a seat, but Nerissa stayed standing where she was. "So you attacked with your army?" she said.

Hexin shook his head. "Not right away. My army was one of the most powerful forces that ever graced the universe, but my father's army was just as strong, and even if it weren't, the combined might of my forces would be no match to that of the Four Dragons. Their power of the elements alone would have been enough to crush whatever assault we conceived, and combined together with my father's army, my entire army would have been swept out onto the winds of oblivion."

"So what happened?"

He smiled. "I did what I always did…I waited and planned. I was nothing if not patient. My father was a great warrior, powerful and strong, but…he was an arrogant and vain bastard." He stared hard at her. "All warriors, no matter how powerful they may seem, have weaknesses, Nerissa. And the first rule of business, turn every weakness into strength. Remember that! My father didn't, but I did, and I turned that to my advantage."

"How?"

"As I said, my father was arrogant and his vanity easily stoked. For years, I fed it, praising every little thing he did with a hero worship that outdid a thousand priests at a hundred different religions."

"Why?" Nerissa asked, honestly confused. What did his father's vanity have to do with all this?

"As you may remember from the dragons' story, the beasts had tough skin but soft hearts. They couldn't stand to see the suffering of any kind of creature lower than them, including the peasants of my world. As the Emperor, one of my father's main responsibilities was to produce rain for the people. I simply cast a spell, which caused a drought over the peasant's land. When the people came to my father to ask for help, I kept them from him, telling them that I would relay their message. Eventually, the dragons came to ask why he hadn't yet brought the rain, and I told them that he had been hard-pressed with other duties, and that they should help take some of the pressure off him by bringing the rain themselves."

"At first, the dragons did not want to usurp my father's royal duties, but when they saw the peasants crops withering away and the people suffering, Wang Yang and Kong qi combined their powers to bring water back to the land, while Di qiu and Jiong gave the crops an extra hand to grow back all the quicker. It worked splendidly, in more ways than one…"

Nerissa knew how the rest of the story went, but she listened intently. She had to admit, as sneaky and terrible as what he was saying was, it had been a brilliant strategy!

"I told my father what they have done, and claimed that they deliberately usurped his duties because they saw him as weak and ineffectual, and they wanted to claim his power for their own! The possibility that they were out to steal his power, and that they had the gall to take something that was both his right and responsibility, was too much for him, and in a fit of rage he had the four of them imprisoned within four hollow mountains." Hexin laughed. "Unfortunately for him, by doing so he had condemned himself! For without the dragons, his army and mine were evenly matched, and thus I wasted no time and launched my attack immediately!"

He leaned forward a little on his desk. "The war was long and bloody, with many lives lost on both sides, until finally only I and my father were left on the battlefield. We fought for many hours until; at long last, I struck him down!" Hexin actually looked pleased when he said that. "My years of planning and preparation had all been worthwhile. My father lay dead at my feet, and with that his crown was now mine!"

His voice then took on a darker tone. "Alas, I was so elated with my victory that I let my guard down, and I didn't notice the shadow of my next opponent reach me from behind…until she literally stabbed me in the heart!"

"She?"

"My sister Xin Jing. She had been waiting on the sidelines since the battle had begun. Whether it was her plan or at my father's insistence, I know not, but the instant my father was killed, she sneaked up behind and cut out my heart!" As he said the last part, Hexin undid the buttons of his shirt, revealing his bare chest to Nerissa.

When she glanced at his chest, she had to bite her lip to keep from gasping, as she stared at the huge gaping hole where his heat should have been.

"It was quite a shock to me," he added. "Xin Jing had always been the gentle one in our family. She was afraid of any kind of violence, and would faint at the sight of blood… How she managed to cut out my heart without losing consciousness, or at least vomiting, is beyond me."

"How are you still alive?!" Nerissa finally brought herself to ask, still staring at his vacant chest.

He shrugged. "Though we appear similar, my race is quite different to yours, and even then my sister and I were considered unique even amongst our own people. You know the story of Xin Jing, how she also possessed a power equal to that of the dragons."

"And you possess that same power?"

"Yes and no," Hexin admitted. "My sister and I were more than just twins, Nerissa. In fact, like the Yin-Yang symbol, we were more like two halves of one whole, and the same also went for our powers. Quintessence is the stuff of life itself, but what is life…without _death_? They are a part of each other, neither existing truly without the other. And the same goes for me and my sister." He gave her a look. "Tell me, was it life that caused that tragic _accident_ with your friend Cassidy?"

Nerissa stiffened at the mention of Cassidy's name, and the memory of that dreadful night, but she kept herself calm.

"Quintessence is a single element made up of two forces," he explained. "Life and death, neither one whole without the other. When you lashed out at your friend, you were using my power of Quintessence, the dark side that destroys. Xin Jing's was what many would call the side of light, the part that creates and gives life. Mine only brings death and destruction."

"And that's how you're still alive? Because you're like the life force of Quintessence?"

"Partly. My sister and I were both the embodiments of one of the five elements themselves. Even without my heart, the power of quintessence still radiates from me, though I no longer have access to it."

"You have no power?"

He glared at her. "I am hardly without power, my dear Nerissa," he said warningly. "But as for my original power, no, I'm afraid that magic is denied to me. For my power comes straight from my heart, and without it I am, alas, no more powerful than a mere mortal." He said the last part spitefully, as though ashamed.

After a moment, she asked, "What happened next?"

Hexin looked up. "It didn't take my sister long to find out that I could not be killed, and she knew that as long I lived I would never rest until I had taken what was mine, the throne of Kandrakar. In her mind, that was something she could not allow. So she did the only thing she knew of to prevent it."

"Which was?"

Hexin gave her a hard stare. "By destroying…_everything_."

Nerissa looked surprised, which she was. For someone who was supposed to be one of the gentlest souls in all creations, this Xin Jing had done some pretty dark stuff in her life.

"How?"

"My sister used all of the power she had in her spirit to make contact with the Four Dragons. Although they were still trapped in their mountain prisons, they could still use their power in the outside world by using Xin Jing as a conduit, thereby using her to cast their magics. Together, they combined all their power, releasing a devastating and final display of all their powers, laying waste to all of Kandrakar, until all that remained was a vacuum space of nothingness, or as you described it…an infinite sky of clouds."

"She destroyed her own home-world to save the rest of the universe from you," Nerissa realised.

Hexin scoffed. "Personally, I think she had an overstated opinion of me. I mean, take a look at this world we live in… Do you really think your people are better off with freewill? Thanks to that overrated sense of freedom, your people have given life to guns and bombs, gangsters and muggers, terrorists, war, genetically engineered plagues, pollution, hunting creatures to extinction, and that's just naming a few!" He sneered hard at her. "Do you honestly believe your people will survive into the next millennium at the rate they're going, Nerissa?"

Nerissa wanted to say, "Yes, they would," but there was a part that could not say it. She remembered when she was a child, she and Cassidy used to have long talks and debates about the same things that Hexin was now talking about. Cassidy was always the optimist, believing in hope for all things and always shadowing the bad things their race had done with all the good things they had also brought to the world, such as medicine, helping people, exploring new countries and cultures, co-operation and unity in the most dire of circumstances, aeroplanes to fly, even the written word. She always left Nerissa feeling with a new sense of hope, but now… Now Cassidy was no longer here, and Nerissa was left dealing with Hexin's point of view that once she would have been spouting.

Instead, all she said was, "How did you escape your world if it was destroyed?"

Hexin smiled. Whether it was because of Nerissa's avoidance of his question, or because of what he was about to say, she didn't know. "When I realised her intention, the complete destruction of our home, I used what little magic I had left and opened a portal to the first world that came to mind. That world was obviously this one. I arrived here almost 40,000 years ago, and have been trapped here ever since."

"And your sister?"

He shrugged. "I can only assume that if she did indeed survive, then she must have escaped through a portal herself. Where that portal led, who knows? As for me, I spent all my time building a small empire for myself, moving around from one country to the next, seeking out all manner of mystics and talismans that could help me. I was the one who first told the story of the Four Dragons to the Chinese, and at the same time taught them the language of my people."

At Nerissa's confused gaze, he laughed. "Did you not think it an amazing coincidence that Xin Jing, a girl from another world, would have a name that came from the exact same language as found here on Earth? When I first arrived here, I arrived in a primitive land full of savages, a land that would one day be known as China. I taught them the language of my people, our ways, and even told stories including that of my downfall from grace."

"Why is your story of the Four Dragons so different from the one told on Earth?"

He shrugged. "Over the centuries, as the story was passed down from one storyteller to the next, translated into foreign languages again and again…the words of the tale have been altered so many times that no one save me remembers the original text of it anymore. Humans have such small brains, with such short memories."

"Why did you stay here on Earth?" she then asked. "Since you seem to have such little regard for my people, why do you not just simply leave for a better world?"

Hexin snorted in disgust. "I told you! All my power was located within my heart, and without it, aside from my immortality; I am as mortal as you are. The magic that brought me here in the first place was power from my own world, and when it died, the magic died with it. As such, I am now stuck here, plain and simple!"

"But you do have some magics at your command?"

"Merely borrowed power," he scoffed. "Magics taken from various talismans that I have collected over the ages. My own power has long since been extinguished, and the only way I can ever hope to get it back is by reclaiming my heart!"

"Then your heart…?"

"And your Heart of Kandrakar are one of the same!" Hexin revealed, smiling. "How it came to be in your former Council's possession, I don't know. I have searched for aeons for it, never knowing what became of it…until you came, that is. You can never imagine my joy when you told me about it, Nerissa!"

"And because you couldn't leave this world, you could never go to find it," she deduced. "But how did you know your heart was not destroyed along with your world?"

"My heart contains all the dark powers of Quintessence, just as Xin Jing's contains all the light. Neither of them can be destroyed."

"And what does a young Jewish woman who died years ago have to do with all of this?" she then asked, pointing once more at the room with all the old German files.

"Everything!" Hexin grinned. "She is the key to my heart's retrieval!"

"How?"

"In my centuries of searching and hoping, I have learnt of a spell that can seek out my heart and return it to me, no matter where it is, all within an instant. The spell, of course, requires some very specific guidelines, most of which are no problem, except for two things."

"And they are?" Nerissa asked.

"The spell can only be done at a specific time when the stars are in a certain alignment. The next alignment is not due for over another 20 years or so, but again that's no major problem. When you're immortal like me, all you have is time."

"And the second thing?"

"The one thing that leaves my spell useless without it," he explained in detail. "For a spell as powerful as this to be cast, it requires something of pure innocence and raw power to be used to fuel it."

"Like the Heart?"

"Exactly!"

"But what does…" she started to say, but stopped, as the pieces slowly started to form in her mind. The Jewish girl, Beata Serce… The Nazi reports say she had some form of magic. From the way it was described, it sounds similar to what I and the other Guardians had, but…"

"But you know that before you and your companions there were never any other Guardians," Hexin supplied for her. "Which means…?"

"Only one kind of entity I know of has the power to do something like we could…" she said, continuing to think out loud. "…A Heart! The living source of all magic of a single world!"

"And the grand prize goes to Nerissa Sanchez!" Hexin declared.

"Beata Serce was the Heart of Earth?"

He nodded. "Yes, the last one to be exact. A very powerful child she was, too. If she hadn't died, chances are WWII would have ended much sooner than it did, and with a lot less bloodshed. Sadly though, as powerful as she was, she was also over confidant. She never noticed the Nazi soldier sneaking up behind her, shooting her in the back of her head. When that happened, the Heart of Earth literally ceased to exist."

"Ceased to exist? How can that be?"

"Recall what I said and what you read in the files," he said. "Miss Serce's family were all killed by the time she got there, and because she died with no heir, all of her powers went out to the next person who had the most right to them. In this case, it was the soldier who killed her, except he had no idea what she was, let alone anything about the laws of magic. So he never made a claim for them, and the powers could never move on unless he first claimed them. Eventually, that soldier died during the war, and apparently he had no family either, which left the magic of the Heart of Earth trapped in a state of limbo. Its magic still exists, but without an heir of the original vessel, or the soldier who killed her, then no one has any claim to them, and thus they are doomed to remain forever trapped."

"So why do you have all this info on her then?" Nerissa demanded. "She's been dead for years, she has no family to get the power for you, and neither did the soldier who killed her. What possible reason could you have for all this?!"

Hexin smiled. "There is an old saying, Nerissa… With death, there is always rebirth."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't matter for now," he replied, shrugging as if it was unimportant. "But now the big question remains… what shall you do now?"

"Me?"

"You now know of most, if not all, of my deepest secrets, Nerissa. Far more than any of my top agents do. I now have a choice to make…either kill you, or have you at my side as one of my exalted few. Which do you prefer?"

Nerissa paused, partly to consider her next option, partly out of fear. She knew Hexin well enough to know he would not be joking in a situation like this. A part of her greatly wanted to accept his offer to become one of his elite agents. As one of them, she would probably have access to who knows how many other sources of knowledge he had stashed about. The power she would have would be almost limitless, and yet…

"Why didn't you do anything?" she suddenly asked.

Hexin looked at her in confusion for a moment. "About what?"

"The girl, Serce, her people the Jews…why didn't you do anything to help stop the war?"

He shrugged. "It had nothing to do with me."

"Millions of people were killed in the second world war!" Nerissa insisted. "My own grandfather died fighting the Germans on D-Day! Countless Jews were incarcerated and led to death camps, butchered like animals or worse! Why didn't you do anything to stop them?!"

"The petty trifles of mortal men are meaningless to me, Nerissa," Hexin replied casually. "As they are to all of my agents, and as they shall be to you. What goes on outside our walls does not concern us."

"And suppose if I were to help you get you heart back?" she asked. "What then? If you were unwilling to help prevent something as devastating and horrific as WWII, then what would you do if you were supreme ruler?"

Hexin looked at her, his eyes unmoving. "Take care with what you say, Agent Sanchez. Your words are starting to take on a dangerous tone of treason."

Those words were the only answer she needed.

"No," she simply said.

"No?"

"No, I will not join you, Hexin. Any man, if he can call himself a man, who stood by and let millions of innocents suffer needlessly in a war that he could have prevented, has no place being offered any kind of power! In fact, I dread to think what kind of a ruler you'd make if you did retrieve your lost power and lay claim to all the known worlds!"

Hexin stared at her with his hard eyes. "I see…and is that your final say on the matter?"

"It is!"

"Very well. Then I am sorely disappointed, as this means there is only one other option left open to me." He raised his hand and clicked his fingers. A second later, two powerfully built men charged into the room, armed with guns aimed straight at Nerissa.

Hexin slowly shook his head. "Such a shame, Nerissa," he said seemingly sad, but with no real grief shown on his face. "You were one of my best agents, and I hate to lose you, but…treason and betrayal cannot be tolerated in my kingdom. Dispose of her!"

The men aimed their guns at her, preparing to shoot.

"Quintessence!" Nerissa cried out, bringing life to the guns. They leaped out of the men's hands, and began shooting all by themselves at them. The men yelped in fear, while Hexin merely looked at the whole scene with a stoic expression on his face. Nerissa, however, paid him no mind. The second the men jumped for cover, she raced past them, out the door as fast as her legs could carry her.

The second she ran out the room, the guns dropped to the floor. The two guards looked at them shakily. It took a stern look from their employer to get them moving again.

"Well?" Hexin said. "What are you waiting for? Get after her!" The guards hastily picked up their guns and ran out of the study, but Nerissa was already gone.

"_Where'd she go?!" _

"_Check the south wing!" _

"_Put the whole mansion on red alert!"_

The guards fled down the corridors of the house, not even noticing the large Ming vase that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, where they had been standing just a few short moments ago. The instant they were gone, the vase disappeared, and Nerissa stood in its place.

"Rather dim for highly paid security," she muttered, but wasted no more time, fleeing out of the house.

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**One Week Later: **

Nerissa had spent the best part of the week running for her life. Hexin's goons had been on her tail 24/7. She had lost all of her contacts and couldn't even go back to her apartment.

She knew she was only delaying the inevitable. Hexin would never let her go. His men would never give up, and they had access to all sorts of organisations around the world, so tracking her would be easy. The only option she could think of was to contact her old friends for their help, but that was no option at all. The thought of crawling back to plead for help from her former friends, and the Council, was like a fate worse than death to her.

But what else could she do, or where could she go? The years in her cell on Mount Thanos had severed any link she had to her old life. Any family she had all thought she was dead, thanks to the Oracle and his damn magic. All her other friends she had had besides Cassidy, Kadma and the others had more or less forgotten about her. And now, because of Hexin, she was a fugitive, with all her contacts once again severed.

Part of her wished she could go back in time and change her mind about Hexin's offer. After all, he only wanted to reclaim what was rightfully his, the Heart of Kandrakar. And she would love to see the look on the Oracle's face if that happened, not to mention the rest of them! It would be the perfect revenge!

Yet…there had been something in his eyes when he told her his plans. The way he looked when he talked about the Heart of Earth, how it was his only way to reclaim his own heart. And how he had been able to live through a terrible time such as WW2 and not do anything to help stop it. He had admitted that he had had spies working for him in the Nazis, so he must have been able to do something to help, yet did not.

Hexin was already powerful enough as he was now, she dreaded to think what he would be like if he ever got his heart back. He had admitted that his power was that of death and destruction, the same force of Quintessence that she herself had once used when she had lashed out and accidentally killed her beloved friend Cassidy. Except Hexin would be like a fully charged version of that force. There was no way to know how many people would die if he ever got that power back.

She had to admit though that there was a part of her that agreed with some of Hexin's plans. The idea that Earth and its people were too savage to wisely look after themselves did have merit. After all, how many people had died in senseless wars? How much of the earth had mankind polluted? How many species of animal had they made extinct? And how much of a future did it have left with its current rulers?

Perhaps Earth did only need one single ruler to watch over it, one ruler to rule them all and to keep everyone and everything in check? But there was little doubt in her mind that Hexin was too vicious and heartless (both metaphorically and literally) for such a responsibility.

But that still left her with one major problem. What was she to do now?

That was when it suddenly hit her…the gateway! The portal that led into Meridian straight from Washington. It was the perfect escape! Not even Hexin could follow her into another world, as he couldn't open the gateway, not having enough energy to pull such a trick. Question was, did she?

Her Quintessence magic should be able to bring the power of the gateway to life, allowing her to pass through. But she had never opened anything as complex as a mystical portal before. It would require more energy that she might be capable of.

She had been using her magic more regularly over the past week. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she swore she could see some grey starting to appear in her hair. She was in her late 30s, but she had never seen any there before.

There didn't seem, however, to be another option. It was only a matter of time before Hexin tracked her down, and then what would she do?

So she made her way back to the address. The gateway was located in an old store that was currently unoccupied, which made it all the safer for her. She disguised herself as a man in a business suit, looking like a realtor, which made sense, as people would no doubt think he was trying to sell the place again.

The only problem was, would she be able to get in and out of there without Hexin finding her?

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The next night, Nerissa sneaked into the store, using every trick she had from her glamour powers to agent training. She made her way to the back, silently breaking the door to get in, acting as swiftly and stealthily as she could. She knew that despite all her precautions, Hexin would probably be on her at a moment's notice.

She held out her hand, feeling the electrical currents in the air with her power, trying to find the gateway/portal. It took her but a few moments to find, as the portal emitted unusual energy that was easy for her to locate.

"Ah, there you are," she mused, heading over to where the old register was kept.

"_And here you are!"_ Hexin's voice spoke from out of nowhere.

She didn't even have time to blink, as the lights suddenly came on, and more than a dozen agents came pouring in from the next room and seemingly out of nowhere. They were each dressed in compact uniforms, armed with weapons, which were all aimed on her.

"Did you honestly think that I would not guess you would come here?" Hexin asked tauntingly, walking out from between them. "That with no place left to go; this would be the one option open to you?"

Nerissa viewed his smug face, wanting very much to wipe that smirk on it and leave him with yet another hole on his body, preferably one where his head used to be.

"You've given us quite the chase though, I'll give you that," he added. "Your glamour powers alone made it difficult for us to locate you, even more so when added to your own training in espionage. I must say I am very proud of you, Nerissa! You've done me proud."

"So glad I could accommodate you," she muttered angrily, glaring at him.

"I had a feeling though that you would come here and try using this portal for yourself," he explained. "Like you, I knew that perhaps with your former Guardian magic, my own I might add, you could possibly activate the portal and breach the two worlds. That is why I've had a guard on this place ever since your escape. And even before then, I have always had it under observation in case anything should emerge from the other side of the gate."

"I thought as much," Nerissa replied hauntingly.

Hexin stared at her. "You knew?"

"I guessed," she admitted. "I knew it would be a risk coming here, but like you I knew it was a chance I had to take, and like you…I came _prepared_!"

Before he had a chance to consider the meaning of her words, she raised her right hand and screamed out "QUINTESSENCE," releasing the strongest surge of energy she had in her body. The electrical energy from her created a wave that surged all across the room.

The men were all wearing insulated suits, for protection against electricity, which was no surprise to her, as she guessed that they would all be wearing protective clothing. Fortunately, even though they weren't killed, the blast had enough juice in it to at least knock them off their feet and leave them dazed for a short while, giving her just enough time to do what she originally came out for.

The only one who wasn't affected at all by the blast was Hexin, as he glared back at her. "You'll regret that," he promised. "Threatening me with my own power! Did you truly think that would harm me?!"

"Harm you, no. Distract you, yes!" Nerissa replied, and then withdrew a small ball from her pocket and threw it at him. The ball hit Hexin on the chest and burst, releasing a wave of tar-like substance that covered his entire body.

"What the…!" he cried out, trying desperately to free himself of the sticky substance, but with no success.

"A little something from my time with you!" Nerissa said tauntingly. "Tell your department thanks for their creativity!" Hexin practically snarled, but Nerissa spared him no time. The guards were already getting up, and she hurried over to the register.

Her right hand was still shaking and hurting from the last time, so she used her left hand. "QUINTESSENCE!" she screamed out again, but this time she created an even stronger surge. Before, she had created the strongest surge that her body could summon, but this time she had to use literally every fibre of her being to fuel the intended spell.

The pain was excruciating! She gritted her teeth, as she charged herself with all the energy she could muster. Every cell in her body was pleading for her to stop, as she purged herself of every last bit of energy she had in her, pouring it all into the gateway.

At first, for the longest moment she thought all her hard work was in vain, but then, slowly but gradually, the portal started to open. It seemed to take forever. The first sign of the portal was a slow twinkling light. It then began to grow in intensity, as they flared into a bright explosion of pure energy.

By the time the portal had opened far enough for her to jump through, her arm had grown numb from the pain. Wasting no time, she leaped through the gateway, ignoring the roar of anger from Hexin behind her.

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She didn't know how long she had been lying there…seconds, minutes or maybe even hours…she had no concept. The last thing she remembered was falling through the portal, but beyond she had no recollection. She must have passed out from the pain.

She tried to move, but the instant she did so, she cried out. The pain in her left arm was now beyond excruciating! Every time she tried moving it, even a little, it sent shivers of agony through her, and the worst thing was that she couldn't even stop it from moving. Her arm shook uncontrollably, like a 90-year-old woman with advanced arthritis.

She moaned pathetically, attempting a small roll onto her right side, and hissing through her teeth at the pain. Eventually, she managed to get up to her feet and observe her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a small cave, the only source of light coming from the entrance that stood but a few feet from her. The cave was very small, as she had to bend over to stand. Limping painfully, she made her way out of the cave, and stopped.

The cave was located at the foot of a large mountain, somewhere in the countryside, but it was unlike any country she had ever been in though. Some of the flora looked like it belonged in a museum exhibit.

She moved a little further on, and then turned around to look back on the cave. The cave was simple and hard to spot from a distance, but more importantly the structure of it looked unstable, as though it might collapse at any given moment.

She tried raising her right hand, to see if she could generate another blast to bring the cave down. Her entire body ached from her previous spell. To try another one so soon after, she decided, would be unwise, but she was resolved. She could sense the gateway even from outside, and as long as this portal was left open, there was a chance, no matter how small, that Hexin could follow her from Earth.

"Quintessence," she scarcely breathed out, pointing her right hand at the cave entrance, and clenching her teeth. The energy once more built up inside of her, shooting out of her hand and striking at the stone. The second it did, the stones of the cave collapsed, filling the inside, sealing it for all time.

Nerissa felt herself collapse once more, the pain returning to her right arm again, but not as severe as the one in her left at least. The only consolation she had was that, for the first time in over a week, she felt safe. With the gate now sealed, Hexin had no way to follow her.

An hour passed, maybe two, and she finally felt the strength to get up again. Her left arm was still in unbelievable pain, but she gritted her teeth and bore it. Her right arm was also shuddering painfully, but she could stand that. It was her left one that took the greatest effort to cope with.

She limped away from the cave, heading over to some trees. Each step was like a mile to her, but she pressed on. When she reached them, she pulled some of the branches back to get a better look of her surroundings. There were an infinite number of worlds in the universe, and she could be in any one, for all she knew.

When she pulled them back, the first thing she saw was a castle off in the distance, built on top of a high hill, with waterfalls coming down from the sides. The view was picturesque, but more importantly it was known to her. She recognised the setting almost immediately, having visited the place once before when the Oracle had sent her and the other Guardians to see someone called The Mage, who was apparently one of the founding members of the Council itself.

"Meridian!" she said to herself, confirming where she was. That was both good and bad, as Meridian wasn't a hostile planet, aside from the odd monster here and there, but unfortunately it meant that she was also on the same world as the Mage.

As best as Nerissa could recall, the Mage was not an active council member of Kandrakar. She had been once, but she declined their offer to remain, preferring to stay on her own planet where her people needed her. But she had kept in regular contact with them, which was the main problem. If the Mage found her then she could report her escape to the Council.

Nerissa swore. It was one piece of bad luck after another!

She stopped when she heard the sweet sound of trickling water nearby. Until then, she had not realised how thirsty she was. The use of her powers without a mystic Heart, not to mention all the running and exercise she had been doing had left her severely dehydrated and exhausted.

Pressing on, she soon came to a river, and sunk her head into its waters, since her hands were still too shaky to use, drinking her fill. The water was pure and clean, and more delicious than any soda pop she could name. When she was done, she lifted her head and for the first time noticed her reflection in the water.

She had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming. She looked almost like her grandmother! Her face was unchanged, but her hair was now pure grey.

"My god," she whispered, reaching out and touching her reflection, as though that would somehow break the vision she was seeing. But even without her reflection, she could see her hair as it flowed right in front of her, its grey colour seemingly mocking her. "What has happened to me?!" she squealed in fright.

Her thoughts were all a jumble, her arms still aching, and her body still too worn out from the day's events. She couldn't take it anymore, and once more fell into unconsciousness.

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Nerissa moaned, as she slowly came to. Just opening her eyes seemed to take all her strength, as she forced them open. When she did, she looked around and found to her surprise that she wasn't still at the river where she had passed out, but in someone's bed, covered with warm blankets.

"Where…?" she started to say, but was interrupted.

"You are in my home, child," a soft voice sounded.

She looked toward the doorway, and saw, to her dismay, the one person she had been dreading to see since she had first realised where she was…

"Mage!" she swore, seeing the ancient sorceress standing before her.

The Mage bowed shortly before her. "Greetings, _Nerissa_."

She swallowed. "So you remember me then? I was hoping you would have forgotten, since we only met the one time."

The Mage shrugged. "I'm not the last vestige of the ancient empire for nothing, you know," she replied with a touch of humour. "One of the benefits of the job is having what you humans call a photographic memory. Everything that ever existed about the ancient empire, I remember. And yes, I also remember you, Nerissa, former Guardian of Kandrakar, holder of the power of Quintessence, leader of the Guardians, and killer of your friend Cassidy."

Nerissa felt her body electrify, as she glared at the ancient sorceress with the youthful appearance. Although she was thousands of years old, the Mage appeared no older than a woman of her mid 20s at most. Her hair was long and silvery white, reaching all the way down to her feet; she wore a long flowing green dress with gold highlights, along with a green and gold cap-like crown with an emerald jewel hanging from it over her brow. Her eyes had no pupils, shining a pale green, yet looked right through her as though searching her very soul. "I didn't…!"

"Whether intentional or not," the Mage interrupted her, "you did kill Cassidy. Denying it is pointless, so don't bother."

Nerissa buttoned her lip, keeping quiet and letting the Mage continue.

"Besides, as a founding member of the Council of Kandrakar, I was kept informed of all that had transpired with you, which is why I am most curious as to why you are here on Meridian. More importantly, I am amazed as to how you are able to be here in the first place, considering that you had been imprisoned on Earth in what is supposed to be an impermeable prison cell."

"I got lucky," Nerissa muttered, but said nothing else, and just moaned again as the pain in her arm shifted.

The Mage noticed her discomfort, and moved forward to examine her properly. "Your arm is in dire condition," she noted. "I would surmise that you have recently completed a spell that required a large dose of your life force to help fuel it?"

Nerissa bit her lip.

"I'll take your silence as a yes then," the Mage confirmed. "I won't ask you what you did or why yet, as your wounds need tending to, but rest assured I will ask, and for your sake I hope your answers are worthwhile."

For the next hour, the Mage worked to help free Nerissa of some of her suffering. For her right arm, all that was needed was some special lotion, made of Meridian herbs, to help soothe some of the pain until it had properly healed. For her left arm, though, more drastic measures needed to be taken.

"I am afraid there is nothing I can do to cure your left arm," the Mage said finally. "Whatever spell you cast has left your arm virtually useless. I can't heal it, but I may be able to help alleviate the pain." With that, she raised her hand, made some gestures and recited a few words in a language that Nerissa could not understand. After a second, a bright light shone in her hand, leaving behind a metal object.

"Wha…?" Nerissa began to say.

"This is from one of the sacred armours," the Mage explained, holding the item up and revealing it to be the arm from a suit of armour. "The armour belonged to an ancient warrior of Meridian, from the early days of the ancient empire. It is said to contain curative powers to ensure that its wearer will be ever vigorous in battle."

Nerissa bit her lip, as the Mage lifted her arm, ignoring the pain that swarmed through it, and slipped it into the armour. The instant that the Mage fastened the armour over her; she felt a strange tingling wash over her arm, suppressing the pain. When it was done, the pain was all but gone.

"How does that feel?" the Mage asked.

"It feels…good," Nerissa admitted, but stopped as she once more took notice of her hair. "What's happened to my hair?!"

The Mage looked at her for a moment, but then shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "As I just said, whatever spell you had just completed must have required a huge amount of power to fuel it. Since you no longer have the Heart of Kandrakar, it used your own life force. The loss of colour in your hair and the damage done to your arm are all ramifications of that spell."

"But…_my hair_," she whined pathetically. She had always been proud of her long wavy hair, blacker than the blackest night. It had been one of her most attractive features, gaining more than a few interested looks from all the boys at Sheffield Institute. "Will it go back to the way it was?"

"Sorry, but once you use your life force, even a little, then that's it. The loss of colour in your hair is a sign of the diminished flame in your life force. It's the same as when you would lose your hair colour naturally, in the fullness of time. Aside from using hair colourings to dye it, it won't change back."

Nerissa groaned.

"So…are you going tot ell me how you came to be here?"

She chewed her lip, wondering what to tell her. Should she tell her the truth? No, she might not believe her. After all, who would? Besides the fact that she was now an exile and a fugitive, who would ever believe that the so-called pure Xin Jing had actually had a twin brother who was still alive and now planning to take over the entire universe after getting his heart, the Heart of Kandrakar, back?

"A portal opened up in my cell," she lied. "I don't know how it got there or why, but I leaped at the opportunity and ran through it. It sent me to Heatherfield, but I couldn't stay there, not with Yan Lin and the others still about. So I ran away and eventually ended up in Washington, where I found a mystical gateway. I didn't know where it led, but then I wasn't too fussy. I just wanted to get away before the Council found out I was gone and put me back in my cell. I used up most of my energy to open the portal. Little did I know that the blasted thing would bring me here!"

The Mage regarded her carefully. If she suspected Nerissa's lie then she did not show it. "You could have tried talking to your friends?" she offered.

"They are not my friends!" Nerissa insisted, saying the first truly honest thing she had said since coming to Meridian. "They stopped being that the day they betrayed me!"

"In some ways, one could say you betrayed them first. After all, Cassidy was well liked by all of them, was she not?"

Nerissa bit back the tears that were threatening to emit from her eyes. "Yes, she was," was all she said, for it was the truth. Cassidy had always been well liked and loved by everyone who knew her. She had always been the most compassionate one of them all, with love for everything and everyone. "But I was their friend, too, and they abandoned me at the first opportunity!"

That wasn't true, as Kadma, Halinor and Yan Lin had visited her regularly before their duties as Guardians had compromised most of their free time, but Nerissa still saw it as a betrayal to her.

The Mage didn't respond though, as she just looked at her with an almost sad expression on her face. "As you say," was all she said.

"So what happens now then? When do the almighty Council come to collect me and take me back to my cell?!"

The Meridian sorceress cocked her head thoughtfully. "That depends," she said finally. "Do you want me to contact them and tell them you're here?"

She laughed bitterly. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just what it is, Nerissa," the Mage said seriously. "If you don't want me to, then I won't."

"Why would you do this?" Nerissa asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

The sorceress paused for a few moments, and then sighed sadly. "Because, in all honestly, I did not agree with the Oracle's decision to do what he did to you. I agree that you deserved to be punished, but I also felt that he should have done more to help you face your guilt, rather than leave you to face it yourself." She explained. "That was always the Oracle's failing in dealing with the problems of other species. His has no problem in that, as their seer powers makes it impossible for them not to face their wrongs. It is a fact of their physiology. Unfortunately, they have little experience with what other species do when they are faced with guilt. I fear what he did to you was what his race would have done with him, and as such he expected you to act accordingly. It never occurred to him that what works well for his people, may not work for others."

"The others didn't try and stop him!"

"Tibor has been in the service of the Oracle for many a century, and he has long respected him and his wisdom. As for your friends, remember that you were all quite young at the time, and the Oracle was their leader. It only makes sense that they would look to him for all the answers, same as all youngsters do with their elders. It never occurred to any of them that he might make a mistake or possibly be wrong."

Nerissa shed a tear, but said nothing else about her former comrades. "So you won't tell anyone I'm here?"

"Not if you don't want me to," the Mage promised. "But may I ask? What do you intend to do now?"

She shrugged. "I hadn't thought that far in advance."

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to offer you sanctuary here in my home."

Nerissa stared at her. "You would offer me sanctuary?"

"You would be company for me," the Mage said smiling. "Thousands of years here in the Infinite City can be very lonesome after a while."

"And what do you want in return?" Nerissa said, looking cynical.

"All I ask is that you accept my offer. Rest, give yourself time to adjust, and hopefully…learn to embrace your inner demons and move on with your life."

"I have moved on with my life," Nerissa said, but did not sound as sure as she might have. The dull pain still left in her right arm, the endless days of evading Hexin, and the worry over the Mage, Kandrakar and the Heart of Earth, had deprived her of sleep for too long.

"Rest now," the Mage told her. "We will talk more tomorrow when you have rested. Sleep…sleep…sleep."

0000000000

**Meridian; Four Years Later: **

Over the next four years, Nerissa had remained with the Mage on Meridian. The Mage had even seen fit for some reason to take her on as her apprentice, training her in the way of Meridian sage wisdom and mysticism. She was most intent on helping Nerissa cope with her inner demons.

Nerissa had spent most of the years studying the tablets and grimoires in the Mage's home within the Infinite City, rarely ever leaving her underground home. She still had the armour gauntlet on, as without it her arm was practically useless. The Mage had given her space when she wished for it, yet was always nearby whenever she needed an ear to listen to her or a shoulder to cry on. The Mage was concerned, though, about how much time her charge spent underground with her, and often tried getting her to go topside once in a while, but Nerissa's only reply was that she was happier reading, and since the Mage didn't want to pressure her, she let her be.

The main reason the Mage had taken Nerissa in was because that, for the first in a long time, the Mage was feeling useful. There had been peace throughout Meridian for many years, with no wars or natural disasters, and as such the royal family had had no need to call upon her services as Mage. It was a sad fact, but the Mage was only really ever called upon whenever there was dire need in the kingdom, and there had been no such need for over two centuries.

The current rulers of Meridian were Queen Weira, who was also the present Heart of Meridian, and her husband, the Royal Consort Zaden. Both were noble rulers, honourable and generous to the people. They also had a son, Prince Phobos, who the Mage had met only the one time when she had gone to congratulate the proud parents upon his birth. The boy was now a child of six years, and although he was not the next Heart of Meridian, he still possessed the same powers as she. But because he was not a mystic Heart, that meant that whenever he used his powers he used his life force as a battery for them, just like Nerissa, and like Nerissa eventually his life force would run out if he used his magic too often.

So far, though, the Queen and her husband did not seem too concerned with Phobos's predicament. They kept him from using his powers too often, if at all, and would probably do so for the rest of his life. Nerissa couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy, as she knew firsthand, from her time in Mount Thanos, what it was like having power and being banned from using it.

Nerissa had only seen the royal family once or twice when she _had_ to go topside, but had obviously never spoken to them. She was more than content with the Mage's books. She didn't want to admit it, but for the first time in a long while she was actually feeling content with herself, a feeling she hadn't felt even when she was with Hexin.

'_Hexin_!' No matter how hard she tried to banish his name from her mind, it still haunted her. She had been studying the Mage's knowledge so intently mainly because she wanted nothing more than to forget all about Hexin, but deep down she knew she was only kidding herself. Hexin was a threat not only to the Earth, but also to all of the known worlds. If she didn't do something, who would?

She had never told the Mage anything about Hexin, mainly because she feared she would not believe her. After all, the Mage was a founding member of the council, and if she didn't know anything about Hexin or the true origins of Kandrakar's Heart, then how would Nerissa be able to convince her?

Nerissa had tried countless times to get the Mage to reveal more about the Heart, and more about basically everything she had in her domain, but there were some things that the ancient mystic refused to share with her. With that in mind, Nerissa did the only thing she thought she could do, and the one thing she was best at, by breaking into the Mage's stronghold and finding everything out for herself.

Luckily, the Mage had kept something of a diary, but finding all the pages in the correct context was something of a challenge. So far, the pages Nerissa had found only went back the last thousand years or so, but she had discovered something interesting. She had found notes revealing that the Mage had once possessed the Heart of Kandrakar a thousand years ago, and used it to create something called the Star of Threbe to help find a lost princess.

"A thousand years ago," she said aloud. She checked again to make sure it was the Heart of Kandrakar the notes were referring to, and sure enough it was. But the council had only been around for the last several hundred years? So if the Mage had possessed the Heart over a millennium ago, then what had it been doing on Meridian?

"What are you doing here?!" a stern voice, normally so timid, suddenly spoke up behind her.

Nerissa jumped around and found the Mage staring hard at her. "I…I…I was just…" she stuttered.

"I told you specifically that this area was off limits to you!" the Mage stated.

"I know, I was just..."

The Mage then gave a long sigh, as though depressed. "This isn't the first time though, is it, Nerissa?" she noted. "I know you have been going through my personal items for a long time now. I had hoped you would grow weary of snooping around like a common thief, and learn to trust me, but apparently I was wrong."

"I haven't stolen anything!"

"It doesn't matter. I brought you into my home, offered you sanctuary, yet you choose to dishonour me by disobeying and going through things that do not concern you."

"They do concern me!" Nerissa snapped. "I need these items, and more, to help save…" She paused.

"Save what, Nerissa?"

She kept silent.

"I see," the Mage looked sadly at her. "I'm afraid your actions must have consequences, Nerissa. You leave me no choice but to return you to Kandrakar."

Nerissa's eyes widened in fear and apprehension. "No! You can't!"

"You leave me no choice…"

"No, I won't let you! I won't!" Nerissa started to become hysterical, as the thought of going back into that cell on Mt Thanos filled her mind with dread, as well as leaving Hexin to do whatever he liked in the outside world, and being unable to do anything about it. "I WON'T!" She screamed one final time, and for the second time in her life she lashed out uncontrollably with her magic, striking out at the Mage with unbidden fury.

The Mage did not even have a chance to blink, let alone jump out the way or erect a mystic field to protect her from the oncoming bolt of energy. The beam struck her chest, destroyed her heart, and exited her back, leaving a burnt out hole in its wake. She managed to give Nerissa one final stare of…whether it was astonishment, disappointment, pain or grief, Nerissa didn't know…and then she fell to the ground, dead.

For the longest part of several minutes, all Nerissa did was stand where she was, staring at the now lifeless corpse at what had once been the last vestige of Meridian's ancient empire, unable to speak or even think coherent thoughts.

Finally, Nerissa did what she had done all of her life when faced with problems. "You brought this on yourself!" she cried out insistently.

She ran away from them.

0000000000

Nerissa toiled and sweated, and finally finished digging out the last foot of the grave. She had picked out a secluded spot by MaGenzien Falls, where it was unlikely anyone would find her remains. Now came the hard part.

She climbed out of the hole and walked over to the other side, where the Mage's body now lay. She cringed, biting her lip until blood flowed, as she reached down and began pushing her late friend's body into the hole. A small push and the Mage went over the edge and landed at the bottom of the grave with a hard thud.

[THUD!]

Nerissa instantly spun around and brought up her lunch, tears falling from her eyes. "I had no choice," she repeated over and over to herself. "I had no choice, I had no choice, I had no choice, I had no choice, I had no choice, I had no choice…"

After waiting a few minutes for her stomach to calm down, she took her shovel and began filling the hole back up. It took her several hours, but eventually she finished, and as a final act of respect, she used a little of her energy to cut out and move a large slab of stone from the mountain, placing it on the grave as a tomb.

"Forgive me," she whispered silently, bowing in respect before the grave, before departing to return to the Infinite City. She had only just arrived there when someone else entered the city.

"Great Mage!" a voice called from behind the waterfall, the doorway to the Mage's home, as Nerissa was just about to go back to the Mage's study to continue her research.

"Oh by the…!" she swore. 'What am I going to do now?'

Years of no visitors, no one daring to enter the city, and on the day when the Mage died, someone had to drop by and ask her for help?!

"Great Mage, I beseech your wisdom! I need help!" the voice, that of a man, continued.

Nerissa cursed again, but knew she would have to play along. If anyone discovered that she had played a part in the death of Meridian's most beloved and powerful sorceress, not even the Council of Kandrakar would be able to protect her from their wrath.

Using her Guardian magic, she altered her appearance, making herself appear as that of the Mage, but only so she could speak in her voice. "What is it you seek?" she replied in the ageless voice.

"I come from my home beyond the kingdom in the Jayden Plains. A beast with no eyes and many horns has entered our territory, threatened the sanctity of our home. It destroys our crops, pollutes our water supply and has frightened our livestock away, leaving us to go hungry. The queen was unable to see me today, and my people cannot wait! I would beg of your assistance!"

'Terrific,' Nerissa cursed again and again, wondering how she was going to get herself out of this one. The real Mage would undoubtedly know this creature, and how to destroy it, but as for…

Suddenly, Nerissa stopped. "Tell me more about this creature?" she asked. "What did it look like?"

"It was the colour of the mountain, no eyes as I said, dozens of horns growing from its back like a Metra-porcupine."

"Did it emit any strange sounds?"

There was a pause, as the man stopped to consider. "Aside from its roar, yes. When it attacked, it made a soft crooning sound. It sounded almost playful at first, but right after that, it attacked viciously."

"Wait one moment!" she ordered, and then turned to hurry back to the study. She wasn't sure what, but what the man had described sounded awfully familiar to her. When she got there, she ransacked all of the books she had recently read, skimming through the pages at the speed of the wind, until finally she found what she was looking for.

"Yes!" she said, giving a sigh of relief, and the hurried back to the waterfall where the man was even now awaiting her.

"The beast you speak of," she said, speaking once more in the voice of the Mage. "You say it has no eyes, yet many horns. Did it have one particular horn, in the form of a spiral, located directly in the centre of its brow?"

"Yes!"

"Ah," Nerissa replied, while inwardly giving a whoop of joy and relief. "I know what creature this is. It is called the Brontesian. It is not a thing of evil, but is known for its viciousness. Did you not say your home is located in the Jayden Plains?"

"Yes?"

"The Jayden Plains were once the breeding ground of the Brontesian," she explained, reading from the book, "until the time when the late Queen Weira relocated them to the plains of Gayla, to make way for your ancestors to build their new home."

"But that was over a hundred years ago. What is this one doing here?"

"Brontesians are known for their unusually long periods of hibernation. It is possible that before Weira sent the rest of its herd away, this particular Brontesian was in deep sleep. It is also known that when your ancestors first settled in the Jayden Plains, they did a lot of digging and landscape alteration. I recall there was once a small mountain where now there sits a lake. The Brontesian might have been sleeping there, and if the mountain fell down upon it, its body would have remained in permanent hibernation until it was clear from the rocks. Tell me, have your people done any recent changes to the plains?"

"Yes," the man's voice said again. "We built a dam for the lake, to bring in some more water."

"Then there in is your problem," Nerissa/Mage revealed. "The Brontesian was asleep when your ancestors brought down the mountain upon it. It slumbered until you built the dam. You must have unknowingly dug out the Brontesian, and when you did it was awakened. And, as I said, your home on the plains was once the Brontesian's breeding ground. That soft crooning sound you mentioned is the Brontesian's mating call. It knows not where its herd is, and is calling for a mate. With no answer, and none of its kind nearby, it is understandably aggravated and frustrated."

"Then what must we do?!"

Nerissa read her book further. "Go to the springs of Wyla. There you will find a growth of berries, the colour of jade green. These are Wylian berries, a great favourite of the Brontesian race. Use these to lure the beast to the Gayla Plains, and once it is with its own kind again, it will leave you be."

"My thanks, Great Mage!" the man thanked her. "I am honoured to have met you!"

"Go in peace!" she added a little forcefully, mainly because she wanted the man to hurry up and leave before she might reveal anything un-Mage like.

The man soon left, and Nerissa released her glamour and returned to her proper form, dropping down with a sigh of relief. 'That was,' she thought, 'not so bad.'

She had managed to play out the role of the Mage almost to perfection! She still needed some work of course, but all in all her performance had been superb. If she could do it once, she could do it again! And if she could fool anyone into believing that she was the last vestige of Meridian's ancient empire, she could fool them into believing she was anyone or anything!

She had only been lucky so far, though. The only reason she had succeeded today was because she had read about the Brontesian just recently. If it had been any other creature of Meridian, she wouldn't have known what to do. If she was to fool everyone into thinking she was the Mage, she was going to have study the Mage's books very thoroughly.

There was also the problem of the Council of Kandrakar. Although the Mage was no longer an active member of them, she still kept in odd contact with them, and the Oracle had been friends with her for many years. Still, since she had left the council, then that would serve to her advantage. Anytime they contacted her, she would just say that she was too busy with Meridian business.

She went back to the study and replaced the book back in its holder. Although she was dismayed over what had happened to the Mage, she couldn't help but see a silver lining in the dark cloud she had created for herself. With the Mage gone, she now had unlimited access to all of her magics and knowledge! And with this newfound power, Nerissa might finally have a chance to face and defeat Hexin.

Resigning herself to her fate, Nerissa sat down and began to read.

0000000000

**Two Years Later;**

**MaGenzien Falls: **

Nerissa made her way to one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in Meridian, so that she could once more pay her respects to the true Mage of Meridian. She had been doing so every Sunday for two years. Every week she would go to the falls, to where she had buried the Mage, place a small flower on her grave and mentally ask if she could forgive her for any role she might have played in her _accident_. And, as always, she was greeted with silence.

Over the years, Nerissa had fully immersed herself in the Mage's books, reading anything and everything she could find. As a result, she had accumulated a lot of mystical knowledge, which would surely give her enough power for her eventual battle with Hexin.

It was fortunate that she did, too, as the centuries long peace in Meridian looked as though it was finally coming to an end.

It didn't seem possible, but the reason for the oncoming darkness was none other than Prince Phobos, the Queen and Consort's 7-year-old son. The whole idea seemed laughable, and even Nerissa hadn't been able to help herself. She had gone to find out the truth. But as remarkable as it sounded, it was true. Phobos, a mere child of seven, had managed to seize power in Meridian.

Somehow, he had discovered a way to use his powers without wasting his own life force. It had intrigued Nerissa at the time; until she discovered what it was he did to sustain his own life…by draining the power of others! He had found a way to literally suck the life energy out of other beings, absorbing them into himself, to replenish the energy he wasted. He had already done this with his own mother.

Queen Weira was still alive, but her power was severely depleted. Her energy was so weak that she couldn't even manage a simple charm to awaken a sleeping flower. Her power would return in its own time, of course, due to her being the Heart of Meridian, but every time she came close to being her usual strong self again, her son drained her of her powers yet again. Worse yet, no one could stop him, as anyone who dared ended up either being teleported to the dungeon, or changed into some lowly creature!

Nerissa had spied on the boy every now and then, and found him to be nothing more than a spoilt brat with delusions of grandeur. The only problem was that this boy had the power to enforce his will. His parents were now practically prisoners in their own home, as Phobos wouldn't let his mother out of his sight. She was, after all, a living battery for his magic, so he couldn't afford to.

She frowned. At the moment, Phobos was only a spoilt child, but who knew how powerful he would become in the years to come. She didn't want to admit it, but the look in the boy's odd golden eyes reminded her a lot of Hexin. Perhaps, she decided, it would serve her best interests to keep a close eye on him.

As she knelt down to place the flowers on the grave…

"_Hello! Is someone there?" _

She sprang up and saw someone approaching from beyond the thicket. Cursing the fact that someone had found their way there, as she had hoped that this place was secluded enough for her to hide the Mage's remains, she quickly changed into her Mage form before whoever it was came close enough to notice her.

"Step forth and make yourself known!" she ordered in the Mage's voice, and a few moments later, a young man of about 25 approached her. She actually found herself holding her breath when she first saw him. He was very handsome, with auburn brown hair, brown shining eyes, broad shoulders with muscular arms, and a small beard on his chin.

"I apologise for my…" the young man began, but stopped when he got a good look at her. "Forgive me!" He suddenly knelt down before her. "I did not know it was you, Great Mage. I was unaware that this place was inhabited by you."

"Peace," she told him pleasantly. "I was merely spending a few hours with myself. I find the peace and tranquillity of these falls very relaxing."

"Oh, they are," he agreed. "I come here sometimes just to listen to the rushing water. Helps take my mind off recent events."

Nerissa/Mage smiled at him. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Forgive me," he repeated, and bowed shortly before her. "My name is Julian."

0000000000

Over the course of the next year, Nerissa's life went through some drastic changes. She had never intended to become involved with anyone, preferring instead to concentrate on learning all she could from Meridian's sacred library. Yet…she had been so entranced with Julian and his handsome yet cocky grin, she hadn't been able to stay too far away from him.

Fortunately for her, fate had been on her side in that regard. Meridian's problem with Prince Phobos was gradually becoming more and more serious. Already, he had been taking matters into his own hands, against his parent's wishes, by gathering some of Meridian's more unsavoury creatures and turning them into his own personal army.

Many of Meridian's people were slowly becoming afraid of the small, yet, terrifying boy prince, and often Julian would come to her to ask for help.

That had seemed like a problem at first, as Nerissa wasn't sure what the real Mage would have done in her place, but in the end she just told Julian that she was sworn not to directly interfere with Meridian's ruling family. She could offer him advice and answer his questions, but that was it. That seemed to satisfy him for now, as who could argue with the word of the all-powerful Mage?

The real problem she had had was when the Queen herself had sent ambassadors to ask her what could be done about Phobos, and if his power could be restrained. She had simply told them no, and that the only way to defeat him was for her to use her own power once it had revitalised. Whether that was true or not, Nerissa didn't know, as she had just made it up as she went along.

But over the months, she and Julian had become very close. Many times they met at MaGenzien Falls, and before long their courtship was sealed with a kiss, and 9 months later it was resealed with the birth of their son Caleb.

Nerissa could still not believe it…she was a mother! This had definitely not been in her plans when she had first come to Meridian, and now she had no clue as to what to do next. Only one thing was for certain, and that was that Caleb could not stay with her.

After she had spoken to Julian, she told him that if Phobos ever learned about the existence of her and the Infinite City, and that Caleb was her son, he might have the baby abducted and used to control her, or steal her knowledge and power. Although Phobos did not know of the Infinite City, since his parents had never told him of its existence after he had stolen his mother's power, there was still the possibility that he would find out.

Julian had thankfully agreed with her on that, and had taken Caleb back home with him, telling his neighbours that he was the result of a love affair that he and a woman from another county had had months ago, and who had died during childbirth. This left Nerissa free to return to her studies, but that was not the only thing she had to worry about.

Phobos was growing more powerful every day. For a small child, he was showing remarkable feats of power, and even darker acts of cruelty and arrogance. She had once decided to keep him under a watchful eye, and now she was convinced of it.

0000000000

**Three Days Later; **

**Phobos's Palace: **

Deanna, the head cook, fumed as she threw in the rest of the icing sugar. So far she had been making cake every day for that wretched spoilt nymph of a prince, all cake and no vegetables! If she weren't so afraid of him, she'd be more than happy to tell him where he could stuff…

"Excuse me?" a good cheerful voice said behind her.

"Huh?" Deanna looked behind her.

"I apologise for being late," the woman, a young stocky woman with brown hair and a round face, said. "I am the new maid."

"New maid?!" Deanna bellowed. "What new maid?! I wasn't told of any new servants!"

"I was demanded for by Prince Phobos himself," she explained.

Deanna swore under her breath. "That damn brat! You watch, he'll be ordering a whole new set of toys next, followed by new beasts for his pets, and a new palace to go with it!" She moaned. "All right then. Here, take these Gantry-berries to the queen's room. She likes these after dinner, and with the way the prince is treating that poor woman lately, she'll need all the help she can get."

"At once." The new servant woman took the gold bowl of berries and made her way out of the kitchen.

"Oh, wait!" the cook called out after her. "Before you go, what's your name?"

"_**Trill!" **_

**To Be Continued… **


	5. Chapter 5

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

"And the rest you know," Nerissa explained to everyone, the council, the Guardians and even her own family, Julian and Caleb. "I spent my years on Meridian posing as both Trill and the Mage. Before Queen Weira and Zaden had passed away, whenever anyone here from the council contacted me, aka the Mage, I simply told them I was unable to talk because of the situation with Phobos." She smiled. "In a way he provided me with the perfect alibi. Because of him, no one here suspected me of not being who I was."

Some of the council looked at her with disdain, clearly angry with themselves for not realising who the Mage had really been all those years ago. For Nerissa was right, as all the times when they had contacted her, she had simply told them she was unable to talk, and they had just taken her word for it. Even the Oracle had not been suspicious, as his sight did not always reveal anything going on on other worlds.

Julian and Caleb also looked at her angrily, but Julian more so. He had always found it hard to think back on his past with Nerissa/Mage. He had always believed that their first meeting was like love at first sight, and he had always looked back on it with fond memories. He had also taken the Mage on her word every time she spoke, trusting in her supposed divine wisdom, and believing what she asked of him was for the good of everyone concerned. Now…now he didn't know what to believe in anymore.

"So you did not create me specifically to lead the Meridians against Phobos?" Caleb then asked, looking at his mother in contempt.

Nerissa looked back at him for a moment, her eyes akin to something of regret, though it lasted for only a second. She shrugged, as if uncaring. "I will admit that when you were first born, it was…something unplanned. But when Phobos took control, I saw a golden opportunity! Thanks to my resources as the Mage, and my place in the castle as Trill, I had the power to mould you into one of the greatest warriors of all time! Your father is a fine warrior, Caleb. Give him a sword and point him in the direction, and he's awesome. But when it comes to planning, espionage and such, I'm afraid he's a lost boy."

Julian's teeth looked as though he were chewing on tinfoil. The sad truth was that Nerissa was right about what she was saying. Julian had taught his son all he knew about how to fight, but everything else concerning battle-tactics…etc, that had all come from the Mage…_her_!

Julian was no military genius, as he knew. That was no secret, as it had been his brash attitude that had first got him captured and sent to The Underwater Mines, and then again when he had led the rebels against Phobos's palace, only to get them all captured by Queen Elyon when she had been under his influence and lies.

"When Phobos gained full control, I had Julian reintroduce Caleb to me when he was a small child," Nerissa went to explain. "I thought it best not to reveal to him who his mother was, so to him I was nothing but a special lady who his father sent him to see every once in a while. I spent years grooming him, training him in battle strategies, how to use his enemy's power against them and such, and might I say he's turned out to be every bit the perfect warrior as I always knew he would be!" She turned to give her son a look that was nothing less but pure pride.

"Without my tutelage, Caleb would never be half the warrior he is today!" she said confidently. "Thanks to my training, and under my guidance, he brought the rebels together and led them as an army against Phobos! ALL THANKS TO ME!"

"You overestimate yourself, Nerissa!" Caleb snapped at her, but was silence by Julian who slowly shook his head at him.

"No, Caleb," his father whispered to him. "She's right."

"Dad, I…"

"No, son," he repeated. "She maybe ranting now, but she's also not wrong. I taught you how to be a fighter, but she was the one who taught you how to be a warrior. Or have you forgotten all the times you went to the Mage as a child, learning from her, and then later all the times you went o her whenever you or the Guardians had to deal with some beast or another sent from Phobos?"

Caleb fumed, but knew his father spoke the truth. Whenever it hadn't been the Mage he had been going to for help, it had been Trill. Both of who, it turned out, had been the same person…Nerissa! He hated knowing that all of Meridian owed his mother a great debt for everything she did that brought about the downfall of Phobos, but he also knew he had to acknowledge it.

Julian was the same. Even now, he found it unbelievable that for all those years it had been Nerissa, not the Mage, who he had had a relationship with, had reintroduced Caleb to so that he could call on her whenever in need, who he had allowed to tutor his son in whatever field was necessary for what she had said would be his destiny. He had loved her so much. Had everything been a lie?

"What does this all mean?!" Cornelia demanded. "If this Beata girl was the last Heart of Earth, and she died with no family left, then how come Lillian is the new Heart then?!"

Nerissa just shrugged, not saying a word, making Cornelia frown impatiently.

"So you spent years spying on Phobos in one form," the Oracle queried. "And helping Caleb and the rebellion in another?"

Nerissa nodded. "When Phobos' reign started, it didn't take the people long to realise just how much of a tyrant he was. Before his parent's demise, he had just been a spoilt brat with too much power. He may have been evil to the core, but even true evil had a weakness. In Phobos's case, it was his mother. She supplied him with power, yet at the same time he could never bring himself to refuse her, as she kept him from doing any of the dastardly things he did in later years. When she eventually passed away, nothing stopped him."

Julian agreed, as Phobos's real reign of cruelty did not truly begin until after his parents had died.

"By then, obviously, his sister Elyon had been born," Nerissa continued. "And with his mother gone, he had no magical source to feed on, save her. That was, of course, why I told the rebellion they had to do their utmost best to kidnap Elyon and get her away from Meridian."

Caleb and the Guardians all turned to stare at Julian, but he just met them with a downed gaze, nodding his head. The six youngsters had all known that many people had risked their lives to save Elyon as a baby, but they hadn't known that it had been the Mage who had first come up with the plan.

"As Trill, I was able to steal Phobos's Seal, which he had stolen from his mother and renamed after himself. I gave it to Elyon's nanny who used it to open a portal to earth." Nerissa sighed. "I was…disconcerted about using the Seal to open a portal, in case Hexin was there, but luckily the Seal's magic seemed only able to open portals to Heatherfield. I didn't know at the time that the reason for that was because Heatherfield was the source of all earth's magic. But I also made a back-up plan."

"What plan was that?" Will spoke up, curious.

Nerissa chuckled. "How do you think the portal closed right after Elyon and her nanny went through? Did you think it just closed by itself?"

The Guardians all looked at her, amazed. "That was you?!" they all said in unison. Although there had never been any proof of it, many people had all just assumed that Elyon's power had been so great, even as a baby, that she had somehow managed to close the portal behind her when she and her nanny had escaped. Now it turned out that Nerissa had played in a part in it?!

Nerissa shrugged. "Someone had to make sure that Phobos could not follow Elyon to earth, and that Hexin could find his way to Meridian. "

"How?!" Will demanded.

"I was the Mage, remember?" Nerissa replied snidely. "It was all a matter of finding the right charm that could dispel the portal, sealing it behind Elyon. I didn't know that that stupid overgrown kangaroo had lost Phobos's Seal on the way," she added, referring to Elyon's nanny, "or that it had been on Meridian the whole time, of course! But no one ever went looking for it, so everything turned out all right."

"Define all right, _mom_?!" Caleb added snippily. "Phobos began sucking Meridian's life force right out of it through those blasted vines of his!"

She gave him an almost disgusted look. "Would you have preferred it if he had gotten his hands on Elyon and usurped her power instead?!"

Caleb said nothing, and just glared at his mother.

"Then stop complaining!" she added.

"But weren't you worried that Hexin might have gotten to her?" Taranee then asked. "You said all he needed was a mystic Heart to fuel that spell of his, to find the Heart of Kandrakar. By sending Elyon to earth, you could have been sending her right into harm's way!"

Nerissa sighed. "No matter what I did, there were always going to be complications," she explained. "With every action I did, there was always going to be someone or something that was going to be in danger because of it. I knew that, and I tried my best to counter them, taking into account any measures. Of course I realised that Hexin might get to Elyon, but only if she revealed herself! Elyon and her parents went to earth specifically to hide. They just didn't know that it was not only Phobos they were hiding from. And because Elyon was away from Meridian, the world whose magic that she is the source of, she wasn't able to access her power much sooner than she did."

She smiled. "Hexin has many resources at his disposal, that is true, and he can detect certain energies here and there around the Earth, but not even he can find the power of a Heart. That goes way beyond any tracking he can do. The only way he could have found Elyon was if she had started using her power sooner, and he had been hearing reports of…weird occurrences."

"Occurrences?" Hay Lin queried.

She shrugged. "Such as a big castle taking the place of a block of apartments, or monsters rampaging through the streets on Halloween. Or any of the other things that have been occurring in Heatherfield in the past 2 years! Hexin may not be able to detect a Heart's power, but he can keep an eye out for anything that might indicate magical activity, especially anything big enough to indicate the involvement of a planetary heart. And with everything that's happened in your town, it was only a matter of time before Hexin came to Heatherfield."

"Lillian!" Cornelia said in fear. "He could…"

"This is why I was after her power, too," Nerissa suddenly added. "Her power came on much sooner than it should have. I knew Hexin would track her down eventually, so I…"

"So you decided to grab her power before Hexin could find her, huh?" Irma said, looking at her suspiciously.

"As a matter of fact, yes!"

All of the Guardians laughed then.

"Get real!" Will scoffed. "You made your intentions more than clear that night! You were after her power, plain and simple!"

Nerissa glared at her. "You have no idea about my intentions!" she whispered dangerously. "Everything I have done since I learned of his existence has been done to find a way to fight Hexin."

"You can stop right there, lady!" Hay Lin spoke up. "Maybe that was your original intention, but it wasn't what fuelled you later in your life! You proved that all the times you were going on about gathering more and more power."

"There's an old saying," Taranee offered. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts _absolutely_."

"Maybe you did set off to defeat Hexin in the only way you thought possible," Will continued. "But over time you lost sight of your purpose, and you began gathering power for your own ends instead, and no one else's!"

Nerissa glared daggers at them, but she said nothing else about Lillian.

"Never mind that now!" Cornelia insisted. "What if this Hexin finds out about Lillian?!"

"Don't be afraid of that for now," the Oracle offered. "Lillian didn't manifest her powers for very long before her Regents siphoned them from her, and even then whatever powers she used did not do anything extreme that attracted anyone's attention. No one even saw the castle or mystical creatures she conjured, as they were all under a spell of illusion, and those she did affect had no memory afterwards."

"But he still could find out," Cornelia said lowly. The rest of the girls stayed close to her, Hay Lin offering her a shoulder to cry on, if needed.

"None of this can be true!" Tyburn, the old grey bearded man who was one of the Oracle's most loyal followers, suddenly said adamantly. "If this Hexin truly existed then we would have surely discovered him by now."

"You councillors would never have discovered him even if you had another thousand years!" Nerissa said spitefully, earning a hot glare from the old man.

"Peace, everyone!" the Oracle demanded. "Nerissa is sworn to tell us all what she knows to help us against this common enemy. If she was lying, her oath would be broken and she would be back at Mount Thanatos by now. Denying this man's existence will do none of us any good now."

Tyburn grumbled, even more as he saw Nerissa grinning smugly at him.

"I will admit," the Oracle added, "that finding out about this Hexin, or Xin Hei-an, or whatever name he uses now, is most disconcerting. But we now know he is real, and now that we know of him, we can start preparing to deal with him."

"How do we deal with him though?" Taranee asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Hay Lin added. "This guy isn't like Phobos or Ner…umm, Cedric. He is the legitimate heir to Kandrakar, and the original owner of the Heart. That means…"

"That means…" Will finished for her, her tone indicating her own worry. "He can take the Heart from us whenever he wants. As the heir, he's the only one who can take it by force, and if he does…"

"That must never come to be!" Nerissa snapped. "If Hexin were to ever reclaim the Heart, his full power would be restored, and then who knows what it will take to subdue him?!"

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Will asked.

"Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, I would like to know more about the Heart of Kandrakar," said Irma. "Since the story we heard about how it came to be seems more or less baloney. I'd like to know the real story. For starters, if Xin Jing destroyed her own world, then how did the Heart get created."

Nerissa frowned. "I don't know," she said admittedly. "All I know is that the Heart of Kandrakar was on Meridian for many centuries before it was eventually brought here to this place, where it was used to create the New Kandrakar."

"New?"

The Oracle nodded. "It was the Mage of Meridian who founded all you see before you. She used the power of the Heart to build this fortress, and then explored the universe to find the wisest beings she could to form the present council."

The Guardians, as well as Julian and Caleb, looked at him. "The Mage founded the council of Kandrakar?!"

He nodded. "She was the first of us to possess the Heart. She told us it had been on Meridian for many aeons, where the first Mages found it and passed it down through the generations to her. Over the centuries, the Mages had visions and omens that told them about Xin Jing and the dragons, and centuries later after Kandrakar was formed, we tracked that legend down to Earth. But beyond that we know nothing else. We didn't know for certain how the Heart came to be, as everything we know came from visions, and those can often be open to misinterpretation."

"So you never knew for certain that the part about the ancient emperor and Xin Jing turning herself into the Heart was true?" Hay Lin asked, looking almost disappointed, as she had always enjoyed that story.

The Oracle shook his head. "As I said, everything we knew came from the visions, both me and those of the past Mages of Meridian."

"How did they even find it in the first place?"

"They just did," Nerissa answered for her. She had read all the Mage's journals, so she knew the true origins of the finding of the Heart. "Apparently, it was just found in the dirt one day by one of the first Mages. They used its powers to help found the first empire, what is now called the ancient empire, and brought the first taste of civilisation to Meridian. At first they used only the power of the Heart of Kandrakar, but eventually they found their own Heart, and they decreed that having two Hearts was too much power for any one world. So they kept the Kandrakar Heart away, using it only in matters of extreme urgency, when the Heart of Meridian was unavailable."

She momentarily smirked at the Oracle, glad she had stolen his thunder, but all he gave was a simple nod of acknowledgement over all she was saying, something that ticked her off to no end.

"And when the ancient empire folded, and the Heart of Meridian became its official ruler, the last Mage was imbued with all the empire's vast knowledge and power, to ensure that their history would never be forgotten." She continued. "They also gave her the Heart of Kandrakar to keep safely locked away, using it only in times of great crisis. The Mage did this, until she decided that Meridian no longer needed the Heart of Kandrakar as a back up. There was peace in her world, the rulers were wise and just, and they had their own power to sustain them and the planet. So she decided to use the Kandrakar Heart to bring about a new…_organisation_, one that would watch over all worlds. Hence this council came to be."

"She used the Heart to make all this?" Cornelia asked, astounded.

Nerissa smiled. "The Heart of Kandrakar can do many things, even more than the Oracle here realises."

Tyburn glared angrily at her, but a look from the Oracle and a shake of his head convinced the old advisor to keep his peace.

"What about the Aurameres? How did they come about?" Irma asked.

"Although the dragons were dead," the Oracle explained before Nerissa could, "the energy of their powers still continued to exist. They had remained in a state of limbo until the Mage came here and gathered them with the Heart."

"Fascinating as all this is," Will noted. "What are we going to do about Hexin?!"

A silence came over the rest of the group. All of them bore grave expressions, except Nerissa who merely looked at them with something akin to disdain.

"Don't expect any help from them," she said to Will, almost laughing at the council. "Even if they had a full millennium head-start, Hexin would still be able to pummel them into the ground!"

Tyburn broke his silence then, turning angrily on her. "You underestimate us too easily, Nerissa! We defeated you, didn't we?"

She laughed. "Two things… One: it wasn't you who actually defeated me, as you were all stuck in your little veil bubble. You didn't do anything much besides brood. And two: in case you've forgotten, it wasn't that hard for me to infiltrate your castle in the clouds!"

If looks could kill, Tyburn's would have incinerated Nerissa.

"Peace!" the Oracle demanded. "This is not helping any of us!" He turned to look back at Nerissa. "Think, Nerissa, is there anything else you know of that could help us?"

She paused briefly. "Nothing that can help you," she stated.

Her brief pause had lasted only a second, but it was a second that the Oracle noticed. There was something she was not telling them. But whatever it was, she was not willing to share, and because of the oath, if she said it was of no use to them than she had to be telling the truth.

"What if we were to attack him outright?" Irma suggested.

"Yeah," Will moaned, rubbing her head. "I'd really look forward to that," she said sarcastically. "Hexin has already proved himself to be a more than capable fighter."

"And more," Nerissa added. "And even if you did stand a chance of winning, out of all the people, you girls are the five who definitely must _not_ fight him! How you've managed to escape him so far is beyond me, but if you were to meet up with Hexin again, and should he get his hands on the Heart…the war would be over before it even begun!"

The girls and everyone else all shuddered.

"I have told you all I know," Nerissa then added. "I have kept my part of the bargain, now you keep yours! Return me to Meridian at once, to the Infinite City!"

The Oracle sighed. "Agreed," he said, and looked over to Caleb and Julian. "Would you please accompany her back to your world? I have no doubt Queen Elyon would not object to you keeping her under guard while she is in the Infinite City."

Nerissa looked ready to object, but a warning look from the Oracle soon silenced her. "Remember the terms of your release, Nerissa," he reminded her. "The oath prevents you from using any power you have or may obtain from harming anyone else, or stealing another's magic. And you will not enter the Infinite City without an escort, understand?"

Nerissa grumbled loudly, but nodded, relenting.

The girls wanted to accompany her back, too, but the Oracle said they would need them there, to discuss options. Reluctantly, they agreed.

The Oracle raised his hand, opening a portal back to Meridian, through which she and her family soon departed.

0000000000

**Heatherfield; Same Time: **

Hexin poured over the last of his reports concerning the Guardians. So far he had been playing his game of chicken with them to a T. They now knew that he knew most of their little secrets, minus the one important detail that he craved most of all…which one of them had his Heart?!

"I need to pick up my game," he said to himself. "Events are proceeding too slowly for my taste." He picked up his phone.

"Agent H," he said, speaking into the receiver. "Gather my elite. I want us to start preparing for another offensive against these so-called Guardians."

"As you wish, sir," came the crisp reply of one of his agents. "Oh, and, sir, some of our undercover agents have uncovered some new information concerning the girls. Curious events that took place some time during last year. Shall I bring them to your office?"

"Yes, do that." Hexin's confirmed, and then hung up.

After a while, he smiled. "Everything's falling into place," he said, chuckling.

0000000000

**Meridian; Infinite City: **

The Fold opened in the underground city, dropping Nerissa, her one time lover and her son back home in Meridian.

"There's no need for you to accompany me further," she told them crisply. "I can find my way from here."

"Nice try, _mom_!" Caleb sneered. "But you know full well someone, _anyone_, is to accompany you whenever you are in the city fulltime!"

She looked back at him for a moment, but then just shrugged. "Can't blame a girl for trying," she said, and continued walking toward the waterfall entrance to the Mage's quarters.

Julian deliberately walked on ahead, indicating Caleb to walk behind them while he talked to her. "Nerissa," he started.

"Mmm?"

"I need to know," he asked. "Was it all a lie?"

She paused briefly. "What was?"

"Everything!" he demanded. "Our love, Caleb, everything! I once said that if our love could create a magnificent son like him, there must have been some good in you once, but now…after hearing your life story, I need to know…was there ever any love between us?"

Nerissa did not stop walking, but she did look at him with a deep sadness, it seemed. "Not at first," she admitted. "When we first met, though I did not want to admit it, I was lonely after spending so many years alone with no other male companions. I never found time to socialise again, even when I was one of Hexin's agents, and certainly not when I was here on Meridian where I was posing as The Mage and later as Trill." She sighed. "Then you appeared. At first, I just stuck with you because I thought you fascinating, and that you might prove useful to me one day. But after a while…I realised that what we had, was something…_stronger_ than mere interest."

Julian looked at her. "Do you love me?" he finally asked.

Nerissa paused again, but this time she did not answer, as they had finally reached the Mage's home. "We're here," she simply said, and walked beyond the waterfall, which split in two as she walked on through, then back again.

Julian stared at her sadly for a few moments, but followed her nevertheless.

When they entered the late Mage's home, the first thing that greeted them was Vathek and the other prison guards for Phobos and his followers. To say they were less than pleased to see Nerissa again would be an understatement.

"_What in blazes is she doing back here?!" _

It had taken a short time to explain to them the council's decision regarding Nerissa, not that Nerissa had been terribly forward about explaining anything, as she had just wanted to walk on past them, straight to her study. Eventually, the guards had begrudgingly let them pass, but not without Nerissa a much-heated glare from each of them, Phobos included.

Caleb and Julian followed her into the study, and then into her sorcerer's chamber, where she immediately began lifting boxes and books, shifting through papers and scrolls, seemingly searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Caleb demanded.

"I need to check on something," was all his mother said, not once pausing in her search.

Caleb watched her for a few moments, seemingly looking at her in interest before asking, "Let me ask you something. Did you turn into a power hungry maniac overnight or was it a gradual thing?"

Nerissa turned to glare at him. "I am not a maniac!"

Caleb laughed. "Oh no, that's right! You're out to save the universe because you're a cosmic force for order. Give me a break!"

"Whether you want to admit it or not is no concern of mine, Caleb!" she snapped. "But like I told you once before…what I have done, what I will do, is not for me alone! Everything I did, I did with the goal of defeating Hexin and ending the threat he represents to the rest of the universe. And if you and those girls hadn't stopped me, we wouldn't be in this mess now!"

"No, we'd be bowing at your feet, licking your boots, wouldn't we?!" Caleb shot back. "Face it, _mom_, the Guardians were right! Maybe you started out with the best of intentions, but now you're just as obsessed with getting power as Hexin is, if not more so!"

Nerissa glared at him, her fists tightened to the point where the knuckles turned white, but she said nothing, and just continued searching through the endless boxes. After a few moments, she found what it was she was looking for.

It looked to be no more than a small green pendant with a gold chain. "The Pendant of Ma'blos," she said out loud, turning the pendant in her hand.

"What is that?!" Caleb asked fiercely, not liking the way she was holding the jewel in front of her. But Nerissa gave no answer. She merely put the pendant on around her neck, and said "Earth."

The second she did, the pendant glowed slightly for one second, and then exploded into a bright ball of light that completely engulfed Nerissa, and when it was gone, so was she.

"NERISSA!" Caleb yelled, while Julian looked on in shock where she had been. "She tricked us! I knew we should never have brought her here!"

"Caleb, wait!" Julian told his son. "Remember the oath. She can't do anything to us now."

"That's never stopped Nerissa before, so why should it now!" Caleb turned and immediately went to go find Blunk, to fold him back to Kandrakar and get the Guardians.

Julian stood where he was for a few moments longer, looking at the spot where Nerissa had stood just a moment before.

0000000000

**Hexin's HQ: **

Hexin looked through the stack of papers, containing everything about each of the Guardian's lives and families. He had gone to the trouble of visiting each of the girl's homes to gather any information he could, concerning their families. He didn't have any definite proof yet, but perhaps the Guardian's powers were similar to those of a mystic Heart, which meant that maybe the girls had inherited their abilities from their elders.

It was possible, but after just one meeting with each of the girl's parents, he knew right away that none of them had any magic in them. None of them seemed the type for sorcerers. But he knew that magic could sometimes skip a generation or two, which was why he had his sources look into the girl's family lines.

So far, none of them had turned up anything particular interesting, except for the Hay Lin girl. Her grandmother, Yan Lin, as a youngster, had been involved in various unusual circumstances growing up. Many people had sworn they had seen her fly more than a few times, but just put it down to their imaginations. That seemed to certify that at least the Chinese girl's abilities were second, or maybe third, generation.

He had gone through Hay Lin, Irma Lair and Wilhelmina Vandom so far, but aside from Hay Lin the others all seemed your typical flighty teenage girls. He was beginning to think this was all a waste of time.

He opened the file on Cornelia Hale, supposedly the Earth Guardian, and read into her family's life history. She was typical, like the rest of her friends, average grades, popular at school, a spoilt from the sounds of her, and a Vance Michael Justin fan.

'Seriously,' he thought. 'What is it with these young girls and this Vance person?'

He read down to the girl's family life…

Siblings: One adopted sister, Lillian Hale aged 8.

That gave him room to pause, as he went through the file and found a photo of the girl in question. Considering that she was adopted, she bore an uncanny resemblance to her sister.

The second he had seen the girl Cornelia, he had been intrigued, as she also bore an uncanny resemblance to the late Heart of Earth, Beata Serce. He knew she couldn't be a descendant, as he would have located her long before now, but this child…

She was the right age, the right physical type, the resemblance justified. And according to the reports from his agents who had interviewed some of the Hale's neighbours in their apartment building, when asked if anything strange had occurred lately, many of them mentioned how a lot of them had all had the same dream. A dream concerning a castle and a dragon, and some even talked about a dark haired girl in a pink dress, waving a staff about like a wand.

The story of the dark haired girl made Hexin smile. "Got you!" he said.

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

"If we could lure him somewhere, maybe trap him in a veil bubble like the council were…" Taranee suggested.

"Somehow, I doubt Hexin will be that gullible," Will muttered, frowning miserably. The rest of Kandrakar were all busy going through every scenario of how to trap their new enemy, but so far every plan they came up with was a bust.

Just then, a fold opened in the middle of the room, and Blunk came bursting out…with Caleb behind him.

"Caleb!" Cornelia started, staring at him incredously. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be guarding Nerissa!"

Caleb scowled. "I was," he said. "Until she ran out on us!"

"She WHAT?!" all the girls cried out.

"She used some kind of pendant to transport herself out of Meridian."

"How?!" Will demanded. "I thought you and Julian were keeping an eye on her?"

"We were!" Caleb frowned. "But I don't know why you're all surprised by this! Letting Nerissa back into the Mage's home was bound to cause havoc!"

"Caleb!" the Oracle suddenly spoke out from behind them having heard all the commotion. "Be calm, and remember that because of the oath, Nerissa cannot cause any harm to you or any others."

"Since when has that ever stopped her before," Caleb grumbled.

"Where did she go?!" Will asked urgently.

"Before she disappeared, she said Earth, so I assume that's where she was intending to go."

Cornelia gasped. "Lillian!" she cried. ""She must be going after Lillian again!"

"Hang on, Cornelia," Taranee interrupted, trying to calm her friend. "Why would she do that? She knows she can't take Lillian's powers by force, unless it's Halloween and that's months away. And she's got Matt and the other Regents to look after her. She wouldn't risk a confrontation with them so soon after she's just been released."

"Yeah, and like the Oracle said," Hay Lin chipped in. "She can't cause us any harm or steal anyone's powers anymore."

"Yeah, but like Caleb here said," Cornelia retorted. "_Since when has that ever stopped her_?!" She turned to look at Blunk. "Blunk, get me back to Earth ASAP!"

The Passling groaned. "Ohhh, but Blunk just got here. Can't I…"

"NOW, BLUNK!"

Blunk yelped, and quickly opened a Fold with his tooth. "Okay, okay, we go!"

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**Earth; Heatherfield; **

**Hale Residence: **

Lillian idly flicked through the TV channels, finding nothing good to watch. Not that she could see much, though, thanks to Napoleon's tail that forever swung in front of the screen.

"Napoleon!" she moaned. But before she could say anything further…

[ZOOM! CRASH!]

Lillian looked up in wonder at the sound of the almighty crash, coming from her sister's bedroom. A moment later, she could hear the sound of feet racing towards her, followed by her sister appearing around the corner, looking breathless.

"Cornelia…?" she started, but her sister wouldn't let her finish.

"Where's mom and dad?!" she said hurriedly.

Lillian blinked, then shrugged. "Mom's taking a shower, dad went out for some takeout. Why?"

"No reason!"

"What was that…?" Lillian suddenly stopped, and held her nose. "Ewwwww! What's that smell?!" She hurried off to open a window.

Cornelia looked behind her, frowning as she spotted where the smell was emitting from…or more precisely from _whom_. "Blunk!" she hissed. "Make like a tree and leave, now!"

He looked up at her with his big yellow and orange eyes, near pleading. "Awww, couldn't Blunk stay for dinner? Blunk missed dinner to bring…"

"Blunk!"

Grumbling, the Passling reached for his tooth and headed back to the Earth Guardian's bedroom.

"And next time, don't fold us right in the middle of my wardrobe, okay!"

"_Cornelia, is that you?!"_ her mother's voice called out.

"Err, yeah, mom!" she yelled back. "Sorry I'm late! My friends and I were busy with this homework assignment, and we lost track of time!"

"Well, you're just in time! Your father should be back in a little while with some takeout form that new Italian restaurant down the road! We thought it would make a nice change from Chinese again!"

'Don't let Mrs Lin hear you say that,' Cornelia thought. "Thanks, mom!"

She went over to where Lillian was struggling to get one of the windows open. "Here, let me do that," Cornelia told her, reaching for the window…and stopped.

"Well?" Lillian all but demanded. "Are you going to open it or not?! My nose is dying here!"

"Yeah…sure," Cornelia said, hesitating slightly, as she opened the window. "Look, why don't you go back to your program, alright?"

"But I wasn't even…"

"Now, Lillian!"

Her little sister moaned, but went to sit back down and continue flicking through the channels, leaving Cornelia to pull the curtains shut, preventing what she had come to stop from looking in and spying on her sister.

0000000000

Nerissa stood on the building opposite the Hale's apartment building, spying through the windows of the Hale's living room. She watched young Lillian, the Heart of Earth, as she sat watching television, and her sister Cornelia when she came in. No doubt Caleb had told her and the rest of the Guardians where she had gone, and she knew they'd be most likely coming to find her any minute now.

"_Enjoying the view?"_ a snippy young voice asked.

Nerissa only jumped slightly in alarm, as she turned around and saw the elder Hale girl standing across from her, her arms folded, with an icy glare directed right at her. "You move fast," she commented.

"We've all been getting in touch with our Guardian powers more," Cornelia revealed. "Including our tele-transport powers. Now, unless you wanna lose that pretty hair of yours, tell me what the hell are you doing here, near my sister?!"

Nerissa idly checked her nails, indifferent to Cornelia's threat. "I'm simply checking on her, that's all," she replied.

Cornelia laughed. "If you're trying to take her…"

"If you're going to comment on my previous attempts to capture your sister's power, Guardian," Nerissa interrupted her, "then remember three things… One, I am now bound by the power of Kandrakar not to steal anyone's powers anymore. Two, even if I wanted to, I couldn't, because Halloween is nowhere near. And three, your sister has already given her powers to my former angel of malice, Shagon, and his pets. She won't be able to give her powers to anyone until she's older."

"His name is Matt, not Shagon! And how do I know you haven't found another way to absorb her powers?"

She shrugged. "I will admit, there _may_ be other ways of taking another's powers. But if there is, then I don't know of it."

"Why are you here then?!"

"I already told you…"

"To check up on her," Cornelia scoffed. "Since when did you become the maternal type, and why should you care…"

"Maybe since you told me that Hexin was close by!" Nerissa snapped. "Have you forgotten what I told you about him and his search for the Heart of Earth?!"

Cornelia paused at that. "Yeah," she started, looking uncomfortable. "I actually wanted to ask you about that… If this Polish girl was the last Heart of Earth, and she had no descendants, then how is it that Lillian is the next one?"

"How should I know?"

"You were Hexin's right hand girl, remember! He told you he was searching for that girl's bones! She had no heirs, and then suddenly, years later, my sister shows up outta nowhere with her powers…Tell me you don't see a connection!"

"What do you want from me? I haven't been in touch with Hexin for years. I have no clue as to what he's been doing since I left! As for Lillian, obviously Hexin's records must have been wrong. Remember, a lot of World War 2 files were lost at the end of the war, and many could have been misread or mis-documented. Obviously your sister must be a distant relative of Beata Serce."

"None of our family were from Poland or Jewish," Cornelia retorted. "Even if Lillian is…" She paused.

"Even if she is what?"

"Nothing!" Cornelia insisted. She had no intention of telling Nerissa that her sister was adopted. "It's nothing to do with you, Nerissa!"

"Maybe more than you realise," she added darkly. "But the whole reason I'm here is simply to watch over your sister. Everything I ever did was to help stop Hexin."

Laughing, Cornelia snorted in disgust. "Oh, so imprisoning Elyon, the council, attacking Meridian, trying to steal Lillian's power, enslaving Matt and the others…that was all for our benefit?!"

"Yes!" Nerissa all but yelled. "Sometimes, to gain victory you have to be willing to go a little over the line…"

Cornelia scoffed, but Nerissa ignored her and continued.

"I sought to gain all the power I could so that one day I would be strong enough to take on Hexin! Even without his original powers, he is still a mighty foe, one not easily vanquished, which you and your friends have found out for yourselves…"

Cornelia shrugged, as she had to admit she was right there.

"I admit I did do some wicked things, and maybe I made some mistakes, but everything I did was for the good of everyone! Hexin has to be stopped, by any means necessary!"

"And then what?" the earth Guardian then asked.

"What?"

"What would happen then, if say you defeated Hexin? When he was gone, and you had all that power that you had stolen to defeat him… What would you do with it then?"

Nerissa said nothing at first, seemingly confused, as she hadn't thought that far in advance.

"Would you have given it all back to the ones you stole it from?"

Again, she said nothing.

Cornelia smirked. "Thought not!" She turned away in disgust. "You are no different from Hexin!"

Nerissa's body suddenly sparkled from the energy overflowing in her. "If you think I am anything like him, then you have no idea!" she said warningly. "Any evil I would have done with my powers, would be nothing compared to the carnage he would bring!"

She then stepped up to Cornelia, but did not touch her. "And for the record," she said, "I aimed to steal your sisters power for two reasons… One, to add them to my own, and two, to save her life!"

Cornelia's eyes widened, as she turned back to stare at her.

"Her life?"

Nerissa nodded. "When Lillian first manifested her powers, it did not take me long to sense them. If I could do this in so short a time, then how long do you think it would have been before Hexin, who has tracking all forms of mystical activity for centuries, would have found her?" She lowered her head to stare straight at her. "Remember what I told you and the others at Kandrakar, about how Hexin wanted a mystic Heart so that he could reclaim his own?"

"But Lillian doesn't have her powers anymore," Cornelia replied.

"He doesn't want her powers! He wants _her_!"

Cornelia felt her chest go cold. "Lillian…"

Nerissa nodded. "I did not tell you and the others everything," she admitted. "I left this out because it wasn't important at the time. You all knew that Hexin would want Lillian, or some other Mystic Heart, and that was all that mattered."

"Left out what?!" Cornelia demanded.

Nerissa sighed. "As I told you all, there is a spell that would allow Hexin to locate and bring his own Heart back to him. To do that spell, he needs a number of things, including one very special and specific power source."

"A mystic Heart."

Nerissa shrugged. "Not…exactly…"

"_Wha_…?"

She sighed. "He does require a mystic Heart to complete the spell, but he does not need the actual power of the Heart itself."

"Then what?!"

Nerissa closed her eyes briefly. "To complete the spell, he has to…to…"

"WHAT?!"

"He needs a _sacrifice_!" Nerissa snapped finally.

Cornelia felt her legs go numb, as she replayed Nerissa's words over in her head. "A…sacrifice?" she said.

She nodded. "To do a spell as powerful as the one Hexin is planning, it requires a sacrifice to complete it. But it cannot just be any type of offering. It has to be a living being, one who is pure of innocence yet possessed of great power. In the entire universe, there is only one being that has both of these characteristics…"

"A Heart," Cornelia finished for her.

Nerissa nodded again. "Yes, and with Elyon now back on Meridian, Lillian is the only Heart available on this planet." She gave Cornelia a long look. "If Hexin gets her, he will use her to do his spell, and then…she will die!"

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Heatherfield: **

In a dark stretch-limo outside of the Hale's apartment building, a lone man inside the automobile waited.

"_Commander Red to Dark Prince,"_ the voice on the radio finally called. _"All troops are in position. Awaiting further instructions." _

Hexin tapped his fingers patiently on the rich leather upholstery of his limo, before answering. "Proceed!"

0000000000

Meanwhile, from up above on the building next door, another conversation was going on.

"Why didn't you tell us all this before?!" Cornelia shrieked at Nerissa.

The former Guardian just shrugged. "I already told you, there was no need. I had explained that Hexin needed a Mystic Heart to fuel his spell to get the Heart of Kandrakar, and that they needed to stop him at all costs. They understood that, so what need had I to tell them the rest?"

"Maybe my sister's life doesn't mean anything to you, but it does to me!" Cornelia said, glaring at her.

Nerissa, until then passive and seemingly uncaring, glared back at the Earth Guardian, her golden eyes flaring brightly, as her entire body crackled with electricity. "Listen here, you spoilt brat!" she all but snarled. "If I didn't care then I wouldn't be here right now checking up on your sister! And just as a point of fact, if you and your friends had let me take your sister's power in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Cornelia scoffed. "Don't play that old tune again, Nerissa! We've already danced to that song. I trust you less with that much power than I would Hexin."

Nerissa looked as if she was about to continue yelling at Cornelia, but was interrupted.

[BOOM!]

The two jumped, startled, and looked back at Cornelia's home. From across the street, through the windows of the Hale's apartment, they could see a group of men dressed in black military-like armour storming the Hale residence.

"What on…?" Cornelia started to say, but Nerissa beat her to it.

"Hexin's men!" she cried out, and before Cornelia could ask her anything further, the dark haired beauty tele-transported herself, vanishing from sight.

"Thanks for the help!" she shouted, but wasted no further time, and transported herself back to her family.

0000000000

"Who are you?!" Elizabeth Hale, Cornelia's mother, demanded, as she stood with her bathrobe on, a towel wrapped around her dripping wet head, glaring at the intruders to her home. "What do you think you're…?!"

"Silence!" one of the men commanded, holding his rifle up to her nose.

Elizabeth gulped nervously, swallowing her protests for the moment.

"Where is she?!" the man demanded.

"Wh…who?" she asked.

"Your daughter! Where is she?!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! What do you want with my Cornelia? She hasn't done anyth…"

"Not your eldest daughter!" the soldier shouted, brandishing his gun in her face. "Your youngest! Lillian Hale! Where is she?!"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "She's…she's not here," she stuttered. "She's staying over at a friends for the night…"

"You're lying!" the man said, glaring at her through the red visor on his battle-suit. "We know she is here, and if you won't tell us where she is, then we'll just find her the good old fashioned way." He signalled to his men, and they immediately began searching the apartment, tearing up every bit of furniture in their way.

"NO!" Elizabeth cried out, and lashed out at the man with her fists. "Stay away from…!"

She didn't get to say anything further, as the man belted her on the back of her head with his rifle, knocking her unconscious. "Sweet dreams," he said snidely.

"_You shouldn't have done that,"_ a young sounding voice drew his attention.

By the time the soldier lifted his head, he could feel himself being picked up and flung into the far corner of the living room, his head striking the wall hard.

"Sweet dreams to you, too!" Cornelia said to him. Although she was not in guardian form, she still had some of her Guardian abilities, such as her telekinesis.

"Hold it right there, missy!" one of the other soldiers ordered. "Hands above your head, right now!"

"Whatever you say," she replied, and did as she was told. She used her telekinesis again, resulting in the second man being flung into the kitchen behind them.

After he was taken down, Cornelia went straight to her mother. She was still out cold, but otherwise seemed to be all right.

"Greetings, Miss Hale," another voice called to her. She looked up to see four more men standing in the doorway to her apartment.

"Oh great," she said. "More playthings!"

"Before you do anything that we'll all regret," the man at the front said. "You might want to take a moment, and see what we've brought you."

Cornelia wanted nothing more at that moment than to mentally throw this guy to the far corners of the Earth, but unfortunately, it turned out this guy had a backup plan.

"Cornelia?" her father said weakly, as the three other men manhandled him roughly into the room, three guns aimed directly at his head.

"Unless you want your daddy's brain splattered all over your…nicely decorated apartment by the way…then I suggest you back off and do what I say!"

Cornelia tightened her fists, her eyes glaring daggers at them all, but finally she relented, sighing in defeat, and lowered her arms to her sides. "I give," was all she said.

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

Will, Irma and the others all stood passively, as the Oracle and the rest of the Council continued discussing the Hexin problem. Something they had been doing for the better part of the last hour.

"I don't see what good we're doing here!" Caleb snapped. "We should be out looking for Nerissa, or at least checking in on Lillian!"

Will looked at him, sighing. "Look, Caleb. I'm all for a reason to take Nerissa down again, but Taranee and Hay Lin are right. The oath that Nerissa took prevents her from directly doing anything that could harm us, or steal another's power away. Cornelia was just panicking. She'll be back before you know it."

Caleb moaned, but nodded, seeing the logic in what she was saying. "I know," he admitted. "I just wish…"

"What?"

He frowned. "I dunno… I've just got a feeling in my gut, saying that something isn't right!"

0000000000

**Hale Residence: **

Harold Hale, Cornelia's father, was shoved to the floor, next to his eldest daughter and wife who lay besides them, still unconscious. "It's alright, honey," he said re-assuredly to his daughter. "Everything will be okay. Don't worry."

She sighed thankfully in relief, as he hadn't noticed her use her telekinetic powers against the armoured men.

"What do you want with us?!" he demanded, only to be ignored.

"Check the kid's bedroom!" the first man ordered.

"On it!" one of the others replied, and Cornelia watched as he headed for one of the bedrooms, looking for Lillian's.

'Oh no,' she visibly squirmed. 'What am I going to do now?' She didn't know how she was going to be able to fight these goons, not without revealing her powers to her parents, or at least her father. She had a pretty good idea of how he'd react to her mentally kicking these guy's butts by just thinking about it. He'd either think she was some kind of mutant, like those comics she read, or she had some kind of disease.

She would have to tell him about Kandrakar, Meridian, and everything…not to mention Caleb, her boyfriend. _That_ alone would have him shouting the walls down! Plus, she might reveal everything to the rest of the girl's parents, too.

She couldn't say for certain what the reactions of the others' parents would be, but she knew Hay Lin's would no doubt send her off to boarding school or something, _to keep her safe_, as they had always tried to do since she was born. She always felt those people were _way_ too possessive and over protective of Hay Lin!

The goon kicked down one of the bedroom doors, the one to her room. Lillian's was right next door to hers!

Feeling panicky, she twisted her head from side to side, looking for something, anything, that she could use to fight these men with, but so far, all she saw was how screwed she was. Then she remembered something…

'Napoleon,' she thought.

The cat in question was even now in Lillian's room, where he had been having a nap, when suddenly…

[BANG!]

Lillian's door banged open, and a man in dark armour stood before him, holding a gun aimed inside the room. A moment later he shouted out to someone behind him, "No one in here, sir. Just a cat."

"_A cat?! Shoot it! Ask questions later!" _

Before Napoleon could ponder what these men were after, the man had already taken aim on him and was pulling the trigger on his gun.

Screeching, he leapt out of the way, jumping onto the bed, then the desk, Lillian's trunk, and then onto the top of the wardrobe. The man's gun thankfully had no bullets, but some kind of darts, and seemingly he had plenty of them for ammunition.

"Okay then, bud!" Napoleon, his voice rough and angry, said, startling the man out of his skin. "You wanna play…"

He leaped back down to the floor, and before the man had a chance to blink, the small feline started to glow…and grow! When the light had dimmed, where there had once been a small cat, there was now a large man-cat, muscles bulging beneath his fur-pelt, and a nasty expression on his face.

"Let's play!" he finished, and leapt upon the intruder.

The soldier jumped out of his way, pulling back his gun to deliver a crack to the side of Napoleon's head, but Napoleon was too quick. He grabbed the gun, and tried to yank it out of the man's hand. The man was no weakling, though, as he pushed back against the cat's strength.

"You're good," Napoleon admitted, only for the man to slam his foot down on his tail.

"Geez, some people just can't take a complement!" Napoleon wheezed, fighting back the tears in his eyes.

From outside the room, the rest of the men heard their comrade scream, followed by the sound of breaking furniture, and a loud feline snarl, similar to that of a lion.

"What on Earth…?" Harold Hale said.

"I knew it," the commander, the first man, said, shaking his head. "Never send a boy to do a man's job." He adjusted the strap on his gun. "Watch these three," he told the other two of his squad, and made his way over to the room.

Cornelia smiled, wondering how long this guy would last against Napoleon.

[BANG! BANG! BANG!]

Not that long apparently.

From inside the bedroom, Napoleon stared at the second man who had just appeared in the doorway, also holding a gun, but who had not wasted any time and shot him three times, each dart finding its target in his chest. He looked down at the three red darts stickling out of him, and hastily pulled them out, throwing them away from him, and turned to glare at the shooter.

"You're going to wish…you… hadn't…. done that…" Napoleon began to feel the room turn.

The shooter smirked. "Nice try, _Regent_," he said, putting the emphasis on Napoleon's title. "But as powerful as the magic that you have is, you're still only a cat. And like all cats, you can be put down!"

He fell to the floor, grunting as he desperately tried to stay awake. As he did, he tried summoning the magic of the Heart of Earth to aid him, but the drugs in his system made it impossible for him to concentrate. Too dizzy and weak to focus, he felt his hold on the magic loosen, as his body began to quickly shrink back to its normal size.

"Ahh nuts…" he slurred, his head banging on the floor.

The commander went to check on the first soldier who had come in. He had been battered around the head, but was otherwise okay. "Have our man in here taken out and sent back to HQ!" he called out. "And has anyone found the girl yet?!"

"No, sir!" another man replied. "We've searched everywhere! She's not here!"

He cursed. "Bitch must have escaped before we got here. Okay, everyone clear out!"

Two of the men came in and carried the unconscious soldier out, while the commander went out to address the Hales once more. "Sorry for the intrusion," he said sarcastically, talking as though he had just interrupted them to sell them a new insurance policy.

"Where's Lillian?!" Cornelia yelled, shocked and disheartened that Napoleon hadn't been able to dispatch them.

"Believe me, I'd love to know," the commander quietly replied. "When you see her, be sure to let her know I'm looking for her."

Cornelia glared hatefully at him. "If you so much as…"

"Spare me the threats, honey!" he said snidely. "I've heard it all before. Besides, it's not me you have the beef with. But then again, you already know that, don't you."

Cornelia closed her mouth, staring at him and his arrogant eyes.

"Did you really think that after hunting those of your kind for so long, he wouldn't be prepared for you…or your sister?" he added, smirking.

Without another word, he and the rest of them left, leaving Cornelia to stare at the front door left open in their wake, while her father frantically searched for the telephone to call the police and an ambulance for her mother.

"Lillian, where are you?" Cornelia whispered in fright.

0000000000

**Half an Hour Later: **

From across town, at The Silver Dragon restaurant, a Fold opened up, depositing five teenagers in the restaurant's cellar. Will, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin and Caleb all instantly made their way up the stairs, to get to the nearest phone to call Cornelia.

The Council of Kandrakar had basically been going around in circles, thinking up new ideas to deal with Hexin, only to end up right back at the beginning. There was no power in Kandrakar that could contain him, not if he was the legitimate heir to its throne, which meant their powers were useless. Obviously the Guardians could not fight him, for as Nerissa warned them that would be exactly what he wanted, so he could get his hands on the Heart.

"Well, that was a waste of time!" Irma moaned, as they walked into the main dining area.

"Well, at least now we know who we're up against and everything," Hay Lin added hopefully.

Irma scoffed. "Somehow, that doesn't help, Hay Lin."

Hay Lin moved past her to go use the phone at the reception, but was stopped by her grandmother.

"Girls, where have you been?" Yan Lin almost cried out.

"At Kandrakar, where else?" Will said, shrugging. "Not that it would have mattered. The guys there are just the same as any other politicians. Talk, talk, talk, and yet not come up with anything."

"Never mind that now," the former Air Guardian told them. "You need to get to Cornelia's place, like yesterday!"

"Why?"

"Seems Hexin's goons stormed the place, tried to snatch little Lillian."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Did they?" Hay Lin asked fearfully.

Yan Lin shook her head. "No, that's the good news. The bad news, though, is that no one has any idea of where she's gone. She disappeared right when the goons showed up. The only one who could have seen her last was Napoleon, and for the moment he's out for the count."

"Huh?"

"Hexin's men shot him with a tranquilliser dart. He's still sleeping it off."

Will moaned. "Perfect."

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**Hale Residence: **

Harold Hale was pacing the floor of his living room, running his hand through his hair so much that Cornelia feared he would be bald before this night was through. He was talking to the police now, trying to give them any information he had about the men who had broken into their home.

"They were dressed in black, and had their faces covered!" he all but shouted at the police offer in charge. "How the hell am I supposed to know whether I knew them or not, when I couldn't even see their faces?!"

Cornelia, meanwhile, stood by her mother, comforting her. Elizabeth Hale was hysterical. She had regained consciousness, only to discover that Lillian was missing.

"Where is she?!" she bawled, begging someone, anyone, to tell her. But, alas, no one knew, except for her eldest daughter who knew far more than she could let on.

Cornelia felt dreadful at that moment. She had always enjoyed keeping the secret of her Guardian powers, and what she did with them. It had made her feel special, like a super hero. But now…now it felt like the worst kind of weight she could ever carry.

She knew who those men were, and she had a fair idea of who had taken Lillian, yet she could not say anything.

'Secrets suck,' she thought.

"Cornelia!" a welcome voice called out to her. The Earth Guardian looked over to see Will, Irma and the others rush in through the front door.

"Are you all right?" Will asked urgently.

"I'm fine," she said assuredly, though inwardly she was anything but, however, she could not say so in front of everyone.

"Irma?! How did you girls get here?" Tom Lair, Irma's father, said in surprise. "Heck, how did you even know about this? My squad and I only got the call less than half an hour ago."

"Umm…Mrs Lin at the Silver Dragon told us," Irma explained to her father. "I think she heard it from mom or someone at your precinct. We were worried about Cornelia, so we came right over."

"But…how did you get here so fast?" Tom asked, confused. "The Silver Dragon is at least a good 20 minutes away."

"We hitched a lift," Irma replied, but knew from the look on her father that he was not going to be satisfied with that.

"Who wi…?" he started to say, but before he could finish…

'_Everything's fine. We're here, we can stay with Cornelia!' _Irma's thoughts shouted into his head.

He paused for a moment, and then smiled. "Oh well, long as you're safe then. I'm actually glad, because your friend Cornelia could use all the friends she can get at the moment."

Irma nodded gratefully, and then turned back to her friends, joined by Cornelia, who had left her mother with her father. "Okay, so what happened here?" she asked.

"Hexin!" Cornelia hissed below her breath. "He sent some goons for Lillian."

"He knows Lillian's the Heart of Earth?" Will asked in alarm.

"I imagine so, but it's worse than that." Cornelia looked troubled, almost scared. "Nerissa was here, too."

"What?!"

"She said she was only here to keep an eye on Lillian. I don't know if she was telling the truth or not, but that isn't what's got me scared."

"Then what is?" Taranee asked.

Cornelia trembled. "Nerissa, apparently, left some things out when she was telling us about Hexin and his plans for the Heart of Earth…bad things!"

"Like what?"

"The spell that Nerissa mentioned, the one using a mystic Heart to find the Heart of Kandrakar… It turns out he doesn't actually use the Heart's power, just the Heart itself, the vessel it's in. Namely Lillian!"

"Why?" Hay Lin asked, confused.

"Because the vessel of a mystic Heart is a being of…_pure innocence and great power_, and only someone like that will work for that spell Hexin wants to do."

"Well…" Taranee shrugged. "Nerissa may have left that part out, but it doesn't seem like much from what she's already warned us about. We already know he intended to use Lillian, or some other heart, to get our Heart back. What's the difference?"

Cornelia trembled again. "The difference is, how he intends to use Lillian to cast the spell, which is…by sacrificing her!"

"WHA…?!" the four of them cried out, pausing briefly to smile nervously at all the curious looks thrown at them by the adults in the room.

"Yeah, pretty much my reaction," Cornelia grumbled.

"Why the hell didn't Nerissa tell us this?!" Will demanded.

"She said she didn't think she would need to!" Cornelia replied angrily. "We only needed to know that we were to keep Lillian away from Hexin. She didn't see any point in telling us that he planned to kill her!"

"Well, part of that is true, maybe." Taranee said hesitantly. "But it would have been nice if she had clued us in more."

"Did Hexin get her?" Will asked urgently.

Cornelia shook her head. "No. From the way these men were acting, they were just as stumped as my folks and I when Lillian disappeared."

"So where is she then? Could she have run away before the attack?"

"Not unless my sister has become a first class Olympics runner in the last few hours," Cornelia scoffed. "I only saw her less than a minute before Hexin's goons swarmed in."

"Could Nerissa have taken her?"

"I'm willing to bet my life on it!" Cornelia said sharply.

"We don't know that, guys," Will hastened to speak, "at least not for certain. Maybe Hexin's goons were lying and took her anyway, or maybe Lillian did escape by herself? She could have run out while no one was looking…or possibly Napoleon sent her off somewhere, where she'd be safe."

"What does Napoleon say?" Hay Lin asked.

Cornelia shrugged. "Nothing at the moment. He's still too pumped full of that tranquilliser they hit him with. Dunno what it was, but it knocked him out while he was in his Regent form."

"Maybe a telepath might have better luck communicating with him?" Taranee suggested. "Mind if I take a crack at that?"

Cornelia nodded, and pointed the way to Lillian's room. The Hales were still busy talking with Irma's dad and the other cops, so they didn't notice them sneak off.

The girls found Napoleon where Cornelia had left him. While her father had called the police, and her mother had still been unconscious, Corny had hurried into her sister's bedroom to see what had become of the cat Regent. She had found him completely unconscious, and had moved him onto her sister's bed, leaving him there until he awoke. Sadly, though, it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon yet.

Taranee wasted no time, as she knelt down by Napoleon's sleeping form, touching the sides of his head with her fingers…

_Napoleon_, she said, mentally calling to him. _Napoleon, can you hear me?!_

_Urrrr…_ a low moan came from his mind.

_Napoleon, you have to wake up! What happened to Lillian?! _

_Ummm… _

_Yes?!_

_Ohhh, Miss Kitty…Yeah, play with my tail! _

'Yikes!' Taranee yelped in her own mind, pulling back and breaking mental contact.

"What happened?" Will asked. "Did you find anything out?"

Taranee shuddered. "Nothing of importance," she replied. "And definitely nothing I'd like to repeat." At the others' inquisitive looks, she added, "I'll try again."

She placed her hands back on Napoleon's head. She had no real need to do this, as she could make telepathic contact with or without doing it. It just helped her to concentrate.

A few minutes passed, during which Taranee's expression had grown frustrated, indicating she was still having trouble trying to get Napoleon to reveal what had happened to Cornelia's little sister, until finally…

"Ah!" Taranee half-cried out in triumph.

"Did you get through to him?" Irma queried.

Taranee nodded. "Yeah…eventually," she said, as she shuddered.

"Well?" Cornelia begged.

Taranee sighed. "You want the good news or the bad news?"

0000000000

**Meridian; Infinite City: **

Nerissa carried the young Heart of Earth into one of her many hide-aways located throughout the Infinite City. Although the one near Phobos's cell, where everyone had always gone to ask for the Mage's aid, was her main home, it was not her only one. She had spent years exploring various sections of the ancient City, and had built a few alternative homes, in case her first one should ever be invaded, destroyed, or just become unsafe.

She had told no one of this, and as such was secure in the knowledge that no one would find them, for now.

Lillian dozed peacefully in Nerissa's arms. The sleeping spell Nerissa had put on her had worked perfectly, and should continue to keep her in slumber land for another few hours. She had thought it best, given the circumstances. Lillian didn't know her, and there had been no time for Nerissa to work her charm and convince Lillian of her best intentions. Not when Hexin's men were right outside her door, planning to come get her.

Napoleon had been another matter entirely. He knew her, and, considering their past together, she doubted he could be convinced to let her run off with his charge. There was no time for her to explain herself, so she had simply blasted him with a quick energy shot, and then run off with the girl, quickly opening a Fold to Meridian.

The girl had been scared; to say the least, but a few quick words of magic had soon had her snoring.

Nerissa carried her into the bedroom she had set up there, equipped with a large bed, stolen from one of the demon nobles from Phobos's reign. The room also had a large fireplace, which even now burned brightly with a fire that had magically come alive the moment she had entered. There were various symbols and talismans decorating the walls, which had been put there as protection.

Nerissa didn't know if they would be strong enough to prevent anyone from finding them, except for Phobos, but they were the best she could manage. They had originally been put there to protect her from Phobos' magic, in case he had somehow managed to find her. She had not bothered to take the charms down after Phobos' imprisonment, and hadn't even been there in years since she had first made it up.

She placed Lillian on the bed, gently stroking her hair, as she caressed her soft face. "Everything's going to be all right, child," she promised the sleeping girl. "I swear to you…just as I've done before."

0000000000

**Earth; Silver Dragon: **

It had taken them a while, but eventually they were able to get Cornelia away from her parents. After what had happened with Hexin's men, and Lillian's disappearance, her parents were obviously not too keen to have their remaining daughter go off with friends. But Cornelia had told them that she felt safer with her friends, and that maybe it would be safer if she stayed at a friend's house instead of their own, in case those men came back.

After considering, her folks had reluctantly agreed, but on the condition that Cornelia would call them every hour on the hour. At that moment, Cornelia could not thank God enough for the invention of cellphones. She simply phoned her folks a short time later, to let them know she was okay, and tell them she was going to have an early night and sleep.

They had chosen to go to Hay Lin's home at The Silver Dragon restaurant, as it was the best place where they could sneak out unnoticed, since most of Hay Lin's family were busy with customers. Plus, Hay Lin's grandmother, Yan Lin, could help them if need be, whether by answering questions or by covering for them.

"I knew it!" Cornelia stated, as they all sat in Hay Lin's room, Caleb sitting by her side, trying to comfort her. "I knew that witch was involved!"

Will looked at her friend in sympathy. "We already knew she was involved, Cornelia," she told her. "But what we don't, for certain, is how she was involved in this caper. You said she was watching over Lillian because she feared Hexin would come after her? His men stormed your place, and she rescued her by transporting her away from them."

"Oh yeah!" Cornelia snorted in disgust. "After months imprisoned in a jewel, Hexin's goons just _happen_ to attack on the night when she is watching out for Lillian?! Please! She was probably working with the guy from the start!"

"I'm not saying it isn't suspicious, Corny," Will explained. "I'm just saying we should explore the possibility. Nerissa already told us that Hexin was looking for Lillian, and maybe, just maybe, by bringing Nerissa out of stasis we unintentionally alerted Hexin to Lillian's presence. Plus, she did lose control of her power once, and Hexin already knows about us. He must have dug into all our backgrounds, so who knows what he knows about Lillian."

Cornelia clenched her fists, looking like she wanted to throttle something, but finally she calmed down, looking more frightened than angry. "It's my sister, Will," she said quietly. "I know she drives me batty a lot, but…I can't lose her!"

"You won't," Caleb said assuredly, putting his arm around her. "None of us will let you."

"So where do we go?" Hay Lin suddenly asked. "Where would Nerissa go with Lillian?"

"Meridian?" Taranee suggested.

Will frowned. "That would be the most logical place, but her home in the Infinite City's been compromised. She must know we'd go there first."

"So somewhere else then," Irma deduced. "But where? Heck, I don't even know where she was half the time when we weren't fighting her."

"Mount Thanos?" Caleb thought out loud.

"Same as with the City, too obvious," Will replied.

"Yeah, but the Infinite City's…well, _infinite_," Irma added. "Even if she's not back in her old place, she must know a million other places around the city to hide out in."

"Which brings us right back to the beginning!" Cornelia said, frustrated. "We haven't a clue where she is or how to get to her!"

The girls remained silent for a few minutes, as they all considered the possibilities.

"What about the Oracle?" Taranee suggested. "He should be able to locate Nerissa with his foresight."

Cornelia scoffed. "Hasn't exactly helped him in the past."

"That wasn't his fault, Cornelia," Will told her. The Oracle had been unable to foresee Nerissa and her attempt at a hostile takeover, not to mention Hexin's coming, because they each had powerful protection magic, shielding them from the Oracle's sight.

"Even so, if he wasn't able to find Nerissa before then why should he be able to now?!"

"He may not, but then again he may know of a way," Taranee added. "And either way, anyone got a better idea?"

The long silence that followed indicated that none of them had, so Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar.

"Guardians unite!"

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

The second they arrived in Kandrakar, Cornelia had begun blurting out everything that had happened so far with her sister and Nerissa. It had taken the council several minutes and multiple attempts to calm her down, until finally she took a deep breath and remained silent long enough for them to get a word in.

"So Nerissa was there at your home?" the Oracle asked.

Cornelia nodded. "She was looking straight at us from the other building! Then Hexin's men dropped in on us, ransacked the place until they learned that Lily wasn't there!"

"And Nerissa was the one who took her?"

All of the girls nodded.

"Napoleon told us via a telepathic link," Taranee explained. "We don't know why she took her, but we have to find Lillian before Hexin does!"

Cornelia scoffed. "Why else would she take her? She…"

"Corny!" Will interrupted harshly. "I know you're worried, but we've already gone down this road! Maybe Nerissa could find a way to bypass the oath she made to us, but not within a day. She had no time! As weird as this sounds to me…maybe Nerissa did take Lillian to save her from Hexin?"

The Oracle nodded. "Even if she had an eternity to search, I doubt she would find anything. I have lived for thousands of years, and I have never heard of anyone ever being able to break a magically binding oath."

"But then why?!" Cornelia demanded. "Why would she suddenly grow a conscious and want to save Lily? Up till now, all she's cared about is her power!"

"I don't know! But right now that isn't our priority. Finding Lillian is!" Will snapped, looking at her friend intently. Thankfully, Cornelia looked down, seeming to accept her friend's advice.

"We came to you for help, Oracle," Will told the head council member. "We have no idea where Nerissa took Lillian, and we know she has found some new way to being able to travel between worlds."

"What way is this?" he asked.

Caleb stepped forward. "My father and I were with her when she escaped Meridian," he said ashamedly. "She used some kind of pendant that acted as a Fold between worlds, like the Heart of Kandrakar."

"Describe it."

"It looked to be no more than a green stone on a gold chain. I only saw it for a few seconds, but it didn't seem to have any markings or anything on it." He thought for a few more moments. "Oh, but wait…I recall her mentioning its name when she found it… I think she called it…the Pendant of Ma'blos."

The Oracle closed his eyes briefly. "Ah yes. That would explain a lot."

"Err, mind cluing us in?" Irma requested.

"Ma'blos was one of the first Mages of Meridian, back when the ancient empire was young. It is said he was the one who first found a way for the Meridians to cross over from one world to another. Legend states that he created a number of mystical items for such a purpose. Obviously, this pendant you saw is one of them."

"So it's like Phobos' Seal?" Will asked.

"Similar, but not quite. The Seal could open portals to Earth without any risk to one's self. This pendant, because of its small size and not being as powerful as the Seal, requires a lot of energy to fuel it. So it takes it from the only place available to it…namely the person using it."

"It kills them?"

He shook his head. "No, or at least not right away. The effects are the same as when Nerissa uses her powers when not drawing from an Auromere. Without another source of power, like the Heart of Kandrakar, they use her life force instead, and over time it gradually drains her. It is the same with the pendant, only more severe. If you use just one too many times, it drains your life completely."

"Why would Nerissa use such a dangerous talisman?" Hay Lin asked in wonder. "She's crazy and mean, yeah, but she's not stupid."

Taranee nodded. "That's right…unless…she was desperate enough?" She thought for a second. "Does the pendant only fold to Earth?" she asked the Oracle.

He shrugged. "I couldn't say for certain," he replied. "I have never seen the pendant for myself, nor paid any real attention to its legend. In fact, until you just mentioned it, I thought it nothing more than that. But I assume so. Considering how much power it would need to fold to Earth, if Nerissa attempted to fold to anyplace else, she would long since be dead."

"So Meridian is our best place to search for them first then?"

"Most likely, but there is an easier way."

The girls looked at him.

0000000000

**Earth: **

Matt sat on his bed, playing with his door-mouse Mr. Huggles. He had just come back from a gig with his band, and was feeling particularly ecstatic. The crowds had been cheering non-stop, the manager had been pleased and even gave them a bonus.

The only thing missing was a call from his girlfriend Will, to congratulate him on his big night's success. He had tried phoning her, but there was no answer.

Thinking she might be at one of her friend's places, she had called Irma and Taranee, but again no luck. No one seemed to be at home.

'Where is everyone?' he wondered, as he began dialling the number for Cornelia's apartment.

[FLASH!]

He looked up in surprise to see a Fold open right in the middle of his room, followed by Will, in her Guardian outfit, rushing through it.

"Will…?" he started to say, but she cut him off.

"No time!" she said quickly. "Got an emergency. Need to go now!"

She grabbed his arm, tucked Huggles under her own, and raced back through the Fold before it could close, with Matt following her, with a shocked look upon his face.

0000000000

**Kandrakar: **

Matt listened closely; his expression grave, as Will and the others explained to him what had occurred that night.

"You don't need to say anything further," he told them. "Nerissa has Lillian, and that's all I need to know!" He remembered all too well what had happened the last time when Nerissa had kidnapped someone, and it had _not_ been a pleasant experience for him.

"Okay, so we've got Matt and Huggles," Cornelia declared to the Oracle. "Now what?!"

"Matt and Huggles are Lillian's Regents," the Oracle explained. "They are vessels of her power, and are therefore forever linked to her. Finding her should be easy for them."

Before he said anything else, Matt started to groan, and before another second had passed, he and Huggles are already assumed their Shagon and Kor forms once again.

"What do I do?" Matt asked.

"You merely have to seek Lillian out with your mind. Your powers will then lead you to her."

Matt frowned, as he closed his eyes (not that you could see them closed), and concentrated. "I can't…" he started to say.

"Don't _try_ looking for her," the Oracle said, smiling. "Just do it. The senses will come to you naturally, if you allow them to."

Matt didn't fully understand the Oracle's words, but he tried doing what he suggested, by closing his eyes and simply thinking about Lillian.

The instant he did, he found his mind being invaded by a mass of images. It took him a moment or two to make sense of them, but gradually he could make out a picture of Elyon's palace on Meridian, and then he felt himself fall below the castle and saw nothing but polished green stone. "The Infinite City!" he all but cried out. "She's at the Infinite City!"

"Then that's where we're going right now," Will replied, and held out the Heart of Kandrakar. "Fold open!"

0000000000

**Meridian; Infinite City: **

The Fold opened and closed, depositing Matt, Huggles, Caleb and the girls right in the heart of the ancient city. Unfortunately, as they all noticed, there was nothing to see.

"Well," Cornelia moaned, looking around, seeing nothing but the endless hallways of the Infinite City. "This hasn't helped!"

The city was the same everywhere that anyone looked, with nothing but limitless hallways and columns, sculpted from polished green marble.

"Corny, hush!" Will told her, and then looked to Matt. "Matt, do you know where they are?"

Matt frowned, as he closed his eyes again. The moment he did, he felt himself being mentally guided through the long hallways, passing by endless columns that were all exactly the same, until he saw her.

"That way!" he stated, pointing.

0000000000

**Earth, Heatherfield;**

**Hale Residence: **

Napoleon moaned, as he stretched out on the small pillow on Lillian's bed. The drugs those men had pumped him full of had finally started to dissipate.

He knew Lillian was gone, as he couldn't sense her anywhere near, and he vaguely remembered something about one of the Guardians asking him where she was.

The Regent cat swore, as he shook his head furiously, only to immediately regret it when his head started pounding in protest. Clearly, the drugs may be on their way out, but they were leaving a strong imprint on his health.

He gave a long loud meow, calling for anyone, his throat begging for water, but no one came. The senior Hales, who were now the only ones of their family still left on Earth, had gone to the police station to answer some questions, and had left Napoleon behind, not even knowing that he had been drugged. Cornelia hadn't seen fit to tell them of that, as why would a group of armoured goons tranquillise a cat?

He moaned once more, as he tried to lift himself up from the pillow, but couldn't quite manage it as he flopped back down again. "Bet those guys weren't SPCA approved either," he groaned, his head still clouded from the tranq-effects.

Just then, the front door opened, and Napoleon could make out the footsteps of someone nearing. 'That must be the folks back,' he thought, glad that someone was there, as he hated being left alone for too long.

The door to Lillian's bedroom opened, and Napoleon painfully lifted his head to give the returned folks a happy grin…and froze.

"Hello again," the man who had first attacked him said. "Miss me?

0000000000

**Meridian; Infinite City: **

Nerissa sat reading one of the few books that she had left behind in her temporary headquarters. It was a book of magic, though nothing of the extra strength destructive variety that she was used to. It contained protective spells, in case the ones surrounding the room didn't hold.

Lillian lay where she had been left, gently snoozing in the bed by the fireplace, as it burned brightly, warming the room. Nerissa looked at her, giving a warm smile.

Before she turned back to her book though…

"NERISSA!" a shrill voice screamed out to her from beyond the rooms' barriers, making her jump slightly.

She cursed quietly, instantly recognising the voice as that of the Earth Guardian Cornelia. "So much for protection," she mused, getting up and going to the wall on the other side. She waved her hand before it and said "Xin Jing sent me".

The room had required a special password, for the door to open, and that had been the best thing she could think of at the time. The second she spoke the word, the wall shimmered and faded away, revealing seven severely ticked off youngsters behind it.

"Hello, Caleb," she greeted her son dryly.

Her son's only response was a hate-filled glare, but if he had anything he wanted to say to her then he never got the chance to, as his girlfriend beat him to the punch.

" . ?!" she demanded, glaring dangerously at the black-haired witch.

Nerissa sighed, and pointed behind her, revealing the young Heart of Earth sleeping peacefully in bed. Cornelia rushed past her, running straight to her sister.

"Lily!" she said urgently to her younger sibling. "Lily, wake up."

"That won't do you any good," Nerissa told her. "I had to put her to sleep. She won't wake up for at least several hours."

Cornelia snapped her head around to face the ex-Guardian, and immediately Nerissa felt what seemed like the beginning of an Earthquake occurring, as the room started to shudder.

"You planned this all along, didn't you?!" Cornelia said accusingly. "You and Hexin! You were both in it together from the start!"

"Oh yes," Nerissa said sarcastically. "I calculated that you and the Council would awaken me right at the time when Hexin and his forces would storm your home, and try to kidnap your sister. Give me a break!"

"She's got a point, Corny," Taranee suggested, but paused at the hot glare her friend threw her way.

"Why then did you take her?!"

"I have to admit, I would like to know that as well, Nerissa," Will added, folding her arms, staring at her predecessor. "And why'd you put her to sleep?"

"What was I supposed to do?!" Nerissa snapped. "Like I told Cornelia here, I knew what Hexin had planned for her sister, and I've already told you what will happen if Hexin should ever get his Heart back. I was merely checking out her apartment, just in case. As for the sleeping spell, Lillian wasn't exactly in the right mood to expect strangers, and I had no time to explain the situation to her. So I placed a small sleeping spell on her. When she awakens, she will remember nothing of what happened."

"And Hexin attacking was just plain coincidence?!" Cornelia asked snidely.

"Believe it or not, yes! But it's hardly surprising, is it? He already knows all your identities, so chances are he would have found out about your sister, too!" Nerissa visibly shuddered, as though trying to suppress the anger within her. "If I had known you were gonna end up a Guardian, I would never have…!" She stopped.

"Never would have what?" Taranee asked suspiciously.

"Never mind!" she snapped. "It's not important! What is important is that Hexin now knows about Lillian, which puts her in mortal danger, along with the rest of all creation!"

"She's right," Will said sadly. At everyone's incredous looks, she added, "Hexin now knows about Lily, which makes her one of his number one targets. With her, he can complete that ritual thing and get the Heart of Kandrakar."

"How'd you find us here anyway?" Nerissa then asked curiously.

"Blame me for that," Matt said with a grin. "Call me Regent Radar, at your service!"

Nerissa snorted. "Should've known you'd be able to track her down. I just hope you didn't allow any of Hexin's people to follow her."

"To another world?" Irma asked sarcastically.

Nerissa glared at her. "As I've told you repeatedly, water Guardian! Do NOT underestimate Hexin!"

"So what do we do now?" Hay Lin asked. "If Hexin now knows about Lily, how can we protect her?"

"Simple," Nerissa said, shrugging. "She'll just have to remain off Earth for the moment. This place is safe, but she can stay at the Palace if you wish."

Cornelia stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "Have you flipped your wig?!" she stated incredously. "My folks are frantic! I have to bring Lillian back home right now!"

"You are the one who's flipped your wig!" Nerissa shot back. "If you dare consider taking Lillian back to Earth, with Hexin now knowing about her!"

"Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do with my own sister!" Cornelia shouted. "You have no right!"

"I have every right! I have been looking out for Lillian long before she ever came into your life, Earth Guardian!"

"What's that supposed to mean?! Like back when you were trying to steal her powers for yourself?!"

"I only did that because Lillian's powers had manifested themselves far too early! Most mystic Hearts don't start using their powers until they're at least in their teens, and with the way she was using them it was only a matter of time before Hexin caught onto her! I wasn't about to let 8 years of hiding go down the drain!"

'_Hiding_?' the rest of the group all wondered the same thing.

"What are you talking about?!" Cornelia demanded. "What do you mean 8 years of hiding?"

Nerissa seemed to freeze, as though she had just suddenly realised she had let something important slip. "No…nothing!" she insisted. "I only meant…"

"No!" Will suddenly spoke up, staring intently at her one time foe. "Something is not adding up here, Nerissa. You claim you were only after Lillian's powers to protect her, but why? The last Heart of Earth died without an heir, and yet Lillian is now the next one. Hexin was searching for the Heart for centuries, so how could he have not known about Lillian or her family. All this, and you're right in the middle of it all!"

"Will's right!" Taranee agreed. "Something stinks, and I have a feeling you know exactly what it is!"

Nerissa now appeared visibly nervous, as she looked at all the staring faces of the Guardians and their friends.

"What are you hiding, Nerissa?" Caleb spoke up, staring straight at his mother.

"It's nothing that…"

It happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that no one saw it coming, not even Nerissa herself. But the moment she had started to speak, Cornelia had suddenly stormed forward, racing faster than even Hay Lin could move, and slapped Nerissa right across the face.

Nerissa could only stand where she was, staring in amazement at blonde girl, not knowing whether to be enraged or amazed at the young girl's boldness. The rest of the group were also flabbergasted, as they just looked at their friend in shock.

"You said Hexin is after Lillian, so that he can perform that ritual that will get him his Heart back, but kill Lillian at the same time," Cornelia said simply. "And tonight, my home was invaded by his men, my parents scared to death, and Lillian only escaping by the skin of her teeth." She stared straight into her enemy's eyes. "I don't have time for your games, Nerissa! Tell us everything you know about Lillian now! No matter how small and trivial!"

"That goes double for me!" Caleb agreed.

"Me three," Irma added.

"Us as well!" Will spoke up for the rest of them, the others nodding in agreement.

Nerissa glared at them all for a few moments, until finally she bowed her head and sighed. "Very well," she said, seeming to relent. "I will tell you everything, but I warn you…you won't like what I have to say."

"We'll take our chances," Cornelia replied. "Now talk!"

She sighed again. "I knew Lillian was the Heart of Earth long before her powers emerged. I have been watching over her since her birth."

Everyone's eyes widened, except for Cornelia who just laughed. "Nice try," she said. "But if that were true then…"

"Then I would know that your sister Lillian is not your natural sister," Nerissa finished for her, though it was doubtful that was what Cornelia had intended to say.

"Wha…?" Cornelia said, shocked.

"Your sister is adopted, correct? She's actually the daughter of some distant relatives of yours who died, and social services got in contact with your parents, who agreed to adopt her."

Now, Cornelia's eyes were wider than all the others put together. "How do you know all that?!" she demanded.

"I know a lot more than that… I know how it is that Lillian is the Heart of Earth, when the former Heart died long ago, leaving behind no living relatives. I know about Lillian's biological parents, where she comes from, and also why."

"How?" Taranee asked, more fascinated than shocked.

Nerissa looked down for a moment, seemingly in a struggle with herself, until finally she looked up at all of them. "Because…" she revealed, "…I am Lillian's mother!"

To Be Continued… 


	7. Chapter 7

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Meridian; Infinite City: **

"Say what?!" Irma exclaimed, blinking in shock.

"If you think we'll believe that load of…" Cornelia started to say, but Nerissa was quicker.

"How did I know that your sister was adopted, or that she was supposedly from some distant relatives of yours?" Nerissa asked her.

"How do you usually go about getting information?" she sneered. "You probably just posed as one of us, listened in on some conversations and got all the info you needed."

"If that were true then how would I know about the locket?"

Cornelia froze. "Wha…?"

"The gold locket that came with Lillian when she was adopted?" Nerissa sneered back. "I assume your parents told you about it?"

Cornelia stared at her. "How did you…?" She hadn't told anyone about the locket, not even her friends or the Oracle. Hell, she hadn't even told Elyon whom she was closest to.

"I know because I was the one who gave it to her," Nerissa explained slowly, as though talking to a child. "Incidentally, the woman in the photograph, inside the locket…that was my grandmother, Carmen Sanchez. She got the locket from her husband, as an engagement present. She passed it onto her daughter, my mother, who then passed it down to me. I, in turn, gave it to Lillian when she was born."

Cornelia did nothing for a few moments, as she just stood where she was, her mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish. The others were just as bad, particularly Caleb.

"Lillian…is…." He tried to speak.

"Your baby sister," his mother answered with the hint of a smirk. "Ironic that your girlfriend's sister happens to be your sister, too, isn't it."

"How the hell is this possible?!" Cornelia suddenly shouted, glaring daggers at her.

Nerissa scoffed. "Don't tell me you were absent the day your school discussed reproduction, child. Because, frankly, I think you're a little old to be having _The Talk_."

Cornelia felt like making the earth shudder beneath her, but she controlled herself, taking deep breaths. "How…can you…be Lillian's birth mother?!" she demanded.

The dark haired woman sighed, rubbing her eyes as if tired. "Hexin," she simply replied.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Hexin is Lillian's father?" Irma exclaimed.

Nerissa gave a loud scoff then, and glared at the water Guardian. "I may have once served Hexin as his agent, but never anything more than that!" she declared. "No, Hexin is not Lillian's father! She doesn't…" She paused, looking uncomfortable. "Lillian…has no father."

"What do you mean?"

"Was this when you and dad were still together?" Caleb demanded, looking straight at her.

Nerissa sighed. "I was not unfaithful to your father, if that's what you are thinking, Caleb. Besides a few boys I knew at High School, your father is the only man I have ever truly been with."

"Then how can Lillian be your daughter?!" He wanted desperately to know, but he also saw how hard Cornelia was taking all this, as her eyes blazed in denial, but she kept silent.

Nerissa stayed silent for a few moments more, and then…she spoke. "It was about 9 to 10 years ago. At that time, I had made two separate lives for myself, posing as both the Mage and the castle-servant Trill. While as Trill, I spent much time exploring the castle, trying to find out any of Phobos' secrets that I could. Eventually, my search led me to Phobos' library, where I discovered a certain book…"

"The Gateway?" Hay Lin asked, remembering the portal in the old bookstore that they had once gone through, leading straight to Meridian, in Phobos' castle.

Nerissa gave her a hard look, but nodded. "Yes. I had always suspected that there might be more than one Gateway between Meridian and Earth. I had sealed the first one I came through, and did not want to take any risks with this second. So I decided to take steps."

"Steps?" Will enquired.

"I had to seal the second Gateway as well, but I couldn't do it like I did the first, by simply pulling the building down around it, not without Phobos and his forces finding out about it, thus risking my cover. The only other way was for me to seal it on the other side, on earth. The only good fortune I had at that time was that Phobos had already applied a mystic book, which acted as a channel to open the gate and allow me to cross over to earth. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet put another one on the other side, so the trip to earth would have been one way."

"So that would have trapped you on earth," Taranee said, confused. "But then, how did you get back?"

Nerissa just smirked. "I had my own methods to get back."

"That pendant of yours?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know of the pendant back then, but…I do have other resources at my disposal, don't forget." Before anyone could ask what she meant, she continued with her story. "I went through the Gateway while no one was looking. I had intended to seal it and then be back home before anyone spotted me. But unfortunately…" She grimaced. "_Someone_ was waiting for me on the other side!"

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**Earth; Heatherfield;**

**9 Years Ago;**

In an abandoned store in downtown Heatherfield, it was the thick of night. No one was about, save from the odd homeless person who walked the streets at night, looking for a safe and warm place to sleep.

The store was fairly new, yet had not been occupied for several months since its construction. It had gone through two owners so far, both of who had decided to leave. They had each had problems with the building, claiming that they could hear noises coming from nowhere, odd lights and such, much like another building in D.C. had done.

The building now sat seemingly unoccupied, its walls completely bare. Inside, its farthest wall stood unimpressive until…

[FLASH!]

A powerful beam of light flashed out of the wall, and a second later a form materialised seemingly out of nowhere.

Nerissa breathed heavily, as she got her bearings back. She had only gone through a mystical Gateway once before, and the experience hadn't improved. She looked around her, viewing her surroundings. The building was just like that of the one where she had gone through the original Gateway in Washington.

'I wonder if all those haunted houses I heard about as a kid are actually places where Gateways are?' she thought. It would certainly explain the number of creepy houses left abandoned in the world.

She moaned, as she rubbed her armour-covered arm. Despite all the years passed, she had never gotten used to the pain that her quintessence now brought her. She could only be grateful that the mystical armour took away most of the pain, otherwise she would be in complete agony every moment of her life.

She reached into her bag, pulling out the items she had brought with her. Among the items were two talons, which were actually the clippings of the tooth of a Tonga. She had found them among the Mage's belongings. The clippings could do two things, such as transport her back to Meridian once she was finished, but they could only do that once.

The teeth were not whole, just mere clippings of a single tooth, so they didn't have the full power of a Tonga. They could transport someone to another world, but only once. After that, their power was spent, and they were no more than mere clippings.

But there was another trick that they could do. Nerissa had learned, during her studies, that the power of a Tooth of a Tonga, even a fraction of one, could be utilised to seal a portal.

She placed each of the two clippings on either side of the Gateway, preparing to do the spell. This all seemed like such a lot of fuss for a portal, which could easily be one of many from earth to Meridian, but she knew she had no choice. She couldn't take the chance that Hexin might find it and learn of a way to get to her. She now had a lot more to lose than just her life, especially if Hexin came and found out about Caleb and Julian.

She sprinkled some magnetic sand on the clippings, and was about to start chanting when…

[CRASH!]

The windows suddenly shattered!

Nerissa had less than the fraction of a second to turn and look, before someone crashed into her, knocking her of her feet and into the wall. The talismans skidded across the floor when she was struck. Where they went to, she had no idea.

She slid to the floor, her head swimming. She almost didn't make out the polished shoes of the two feet coming towards her.

"_A pleasure to see you again, my dear Nerissa,"_ Hexin's smooth voice said to her, as she slowly passed out.

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Nerissa moaned, as she slowly came to.

"Good morning," a most unwelcome voice greeted her, as she awoke.

She sprang up, now fully awake, but got no further up than a few centimetres before she was roughly pulled back down by the restraints on her arms.

"Restless night?" he said mockingly, while she glared at him in return.

"How?!" was all she could say.

He laughed. "I have been scouring the earth for centuries, Nerissa. Did you really think I would not already know about the second Gateway here in Heatherfield? I knew it was only a matter of time before you would come back, so I placed my agents at each one of the Gateway portals, patiently awaiting your eventual return."

She cursed loudly, earning only another sly smirk from her captor. "It was only by pure chance and luck that I happened to be in Heatherfield tonight. You can imagine my surprise when I was checking in on the guards at the Gateway that you suddenly turned up. Fate does work wonders, does it not?"

"What do you want with me?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well, in light of all that I have done for you in the past…releasing you from your cell on Mt. Thanatos, freedom, giving you a place as one of my higher agents, a new home, a chance for revenge on your enemies. I don't see any problem in me asking you for a return on my good graces."

She gave a bitter laugh. "You wouldn't know grace even if it jumped up and bit you on the nose," she remarked.

"Sticks and stones, my dear," he simple replied, and then clicked his fingers. A short moment later, the doors opened to reveal two men dressed in white coats, like doctors, walking in.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, as they came up to her, seemingly checking her vitals.

"Claiming my debt, of course," Hexin explained. "You see, you're going to help me get what I want, by bringing back the Heart of Earth."

Nerissa stared at him in disbelief. "But that's impossible!" she insisted. "The Heart of Earth is gone! I remember reading your files all those years ago, about how the last one died without an heir and everything. No one made a claim to her power, and with that one now gone, there's no one left with any claim on it."

"Sad but true," Hexin admitted, almost sadly. "But since there is no one left with any claim to the Heart's magic, then the only other option…is to make one!"

"_Make one?" _

He chuckled. "Human science has made many great strides in the last century, Nerissa, most of which many governments or private companies, such as my own, do not see fit to share with the rest of the world yet. In fact, the power of science has reached such heights that it could rival any known sorcery."

"What's that got to do with anything?!"

"Human science is the key to the rebirth of the Heart of Earth, which you yourself will now play a part in."

"What do you mean?" He wasn't making any sense.

Hexin signalled one of the doctors, who then opened a small case lying on one of the tables near her, pulling out a huge syringe. Nerissa eyed the large needle fearfully.

"Remember the last Heart of Earth?" he asked conversationally. "The one who met an unseemly end from the bullet of a Nazi?"

Nerissa could only nod, still gazing in fear at the enormous syringe.

"As you may remember, we recovered Miss Serce's body just prior to your…_departure_. With her remains, I had my scientists start working on a way to resurrect her. "

"You can't bring the dead back to life," Nerissa said scornfully.

"Oh, you'd be amazed at what you can do, my dear," he added. "Many sorcerers in the past have attempted resurrection, and believe it or not, some have succeeded!"

His words gave pause to her, but soon he was talking again.

"We could not bring Miss Serce back to life unfortunately, not with her body being the way it was, and even then I could not be certain that she would willingly help me in my mission to reclaim my heart. So I decided to create a new Heart to replace her!"

She gasped. "How?"

"Tell me, have you ever heard of cloning?"

She frowned. "Yeah, from old comic-books. Cloning is what they did to make a copy of someone."

"Simple yet effective."

"You intend to clone Beata Serce?!"

"Not exactly," he explained. "There weren't enough of Serce's remains to grow a clone, but just enough for the next best thing."

"Which is?"

"Utilising what there was of Beata Serce's DNA, I planned to have my scientists use it to fertilise a woman's ovum. The result will cause the egg to divide and grow just as well as any ovum would, if fertilised by a man's sperm."

She stared in disbelief at him. "Wha…?"

"The egg would then be planted back inside the woman's womb, where it would continue to grow, and then 9 months later…Voila! The Heart of Earth is reborn."

She stuttered. "You intend to create a child out of a woman's corpse?!"

He shrugged. "It's a lot more effective than it sounds, believe me. And it was certainly a lot more complicated than that, but I won't bore you with all the scientific details."

Nerissa froze. "What do you want with me?" she asked quietly, though she already knew the answer.

He shrugged again. "We have Miss Serce's DNA… Now, all we need is the surrogate mother. Does that answer your question?"

One of the doctors came up to her with the syringe.

"You can't do this?!" she screamed, pulling in vain at her bonds.

"Actually," Hexin replied, sounding bored. "So long as you're here and tied down, I can."

Nerissa screamed, as the second doctor came and cut some of her clothing away, exposing her belly, while he held her down.

"Take good care of her, men," he instructed his agents. "After all the years spent underground, we were only able to scrape up enough of Miss Serce's DNA for one infusion. If you mess this up, don't bother writing up the reports, as I'd do it myself…in your own blood!"

The men froze, as they stared at him in fear, but knew that he was not kidding. Hexin never kid!

"As for you," Hexin then added, looking back on her. "Look on the bright side… Congratulations are soon to be in order. You're going to be a mother!"

She screamed the next of many screams that night, as the doctor lowered the needle into her.

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**9 Months Later: **

Nerissa bit her lower lip, tasting the flow of blood in her mouth, as she bore the pain of childbirth. The pain was equal to that of the first time she had done it.

'Whoever said the second time was easier obviously didn't know what the hell he was talking about!' she thought, and added only half-seriously, 'Had to be a man.'

She gripped the sides of the bed she was being held on, but still she refused to scream. Despite the agony she was suffering, she refused to give Hexin or his people any satisfaction.

"All right now, one final push!" the doctor tending her instructed, making Nerissa wish she could empty all her quintessence into him, frying him to a crisp. Unfortunately, Hexin had all his men well prepared, as all of them were clothed in insulated suits, protecting them from her electrical powers.

She gave one last push, resisting the urge to scream the house down. As she pushed, she felt a small body pass between her legs and fall into the hands of her appointed doctor and jailer.

The doctor and his colleague had been assigned to her the instant Hexin had captured and brought her to…wherever she was now. She had only been in two rooms since her capture. Aside from when they had transported her between rooms, through the corridors, she hadn't seen anything but her own cell and the examination room where she was now.

When she had escaped from her cell on Mt. Thanatos, she had had fears about being trapped back in her prison again. It was one of her worst nightmares. But now…now she would welcome back the solitude of her cave, if only to escape the constant propping and examining done to her and her unborn baby by the doctors.

She didn't even who they were, or even their names. Neither of them had talked to her, except for the odd question when asking her about her health.

The sound of a baby's cries soon filled the room, and she looked over to where the first doctor was even now handling her baby, carrying it over to a small table where he examined her.

She tried desperately to raise herself up on her arms, to gain a better look at her daughter. She knew it had to be a girl since it could be nothing else. It had no father, thus no male chromosomes.

"Let me see it," she said breathlessly. "Let me see my baby!"

The doctors looked at each other for a while, as they seemed to consider this amongst themselves, until finally the first man just shrugged and nodded. The second man took the baby from him and carried her over to her mother.

First thing Nerissa noticed about her was her eyes… Unlike usual newborn babies, this one's eyes were wide open and a brilliant blue. They stared out at Nerissa in curious wonder. Her skin was a golden white, and upon her head she had a small crop of blonde hair, something which she obviously must have gotten from her second mother, Beata Serce. She was the most beautiful baby Nerissa had ever seen, even more so than Caleb had been.

Unfortunately, she didn't have long to admire her beauty, for soon the door to the room opened, and Hexin walked in.

"Any problems?" he asked the doctors.

"We have yet to run a full diagnosis, but everything seems in order," the first doctor reported, talking as though he were describing machine maintenance. "There were no complications during birth, and the infant appears in good health."

"Excellent," Hexin smiled, looking down on the baby in the doctor's arms. He held out his hands for her.

"Don't touch her!" she hissed, wanting to scream but lacking the strength. The birth had taken a lot out of her.

Hexin ignored her as if she weren't even there, and took the baby from his follower. "Marvellous work, doctors," he complemented them. "You have successfully recreated the Heart of Earth." He gave the baby in his arms a dark smile. "Seems almost a pity that all that hard work will have to be undone when the Heart is sacrificed, but…oh well!"

Nerissa futilely tried to break free of her bonds, but finally her strength completely ran out, and she passed out, the last noise she heard being her tormentor's laughter.

0000000000

She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, as she came to.

Nerissa moaned, as she reached up her arm to hold her head… That was the moment when she realised that she was no longer bound to her bed. She looked around, and found herself back in her usual cell. But there was no sign of the baby.

She forced herself up on her arms. There didn't seem to be anything too dreadfully wrong with her, aside from the pain in her lower regions, and the feeling that she had been stretched out like a rubber band. Her thoughts, however, on her own discomfort were far from her mind.

She remembered all too well why Hexin wanted her baby, the Heart of Earth. So she had no time to waste! But thinking that and doing that were two entirely different things. Hexin had made triple sure that her cell was secure, the inside of it padded with rubber insulation to prevent her from using her powers to escape.

She snarled deep within her mind, but could find nothing to aid her. Not that she had really expected to, since she had spent nearly a year now trapped there, and had found no way out.

The sound of the lock on her cell-door suddenly reached her, as it was unlocked. The door opened, revealing one of the doctors coming in, carrying her meal. Hexin had probably not wanted to risk having more people involved in the Heart of Earth's resurrection than was necessary, so he had the doctors do manual labour as well as the scientific research.

"Where is my baby?!" she demanded, raising herself up.

The doctor merely sneered at her. "Your part in your child's creation is fulfilled, woman. She is no longer any of your concern." From the way he spoke and acted, it was clear he thought the job of delivering food was beneath him.

Nerissa glared at him, wanting to scream and shout, demanding that he tell her where her child was, but knew it would lead to nothing.

He put the tray of food down on a table and prepared to leave.

That was the moment when she did the unthinkable!

During her studies with the Mage's mystical books and scrolls, she had learned many things. Quite a few of them were to do with dark magic, something that she had always been curious of. After all, if the Mage had been a good and divine sorceress of wisdom, then what was she doing with so much knowledge of black sorcery?

One of the spells she had discovered had been one of the darkest ever recorded. It was a spell of control, with which one could not only bend another's will to their own, but take possession of their souls as well. It was a spell of the purest black magic, which had been hidden so deep within the Mage's deepest catacombs that she had almost missed it.

The spell had frightened her when she had first found it. So much so that her first instinct had been to put it back in its box and forget she had ever found it. But her thirst for knowledge had overcome her fear, and she had read the details of the magic. She had only read it once, but once was enough, as the spell was fairly simple and easy enough to cast.

"You do realise Hexin is going to kill her?" she asked the doctor before he could leave. "He's going to kill that helpless innocent baby! And when he does, he'll use all the power to conquer and destroy everything in existence."

He simply turned around, giving her a short look. "My life is dedicated to my master and his cause, as my fathers was before me," he told her.

She thinned her eyes at him. "So, you would be willing to perform any act, no matter how heinous, all in service to your master, a man you know to be pure evil?"

He shrugged. "Service is its own reward."

"Sounds more to me like you're afraid of what he might do to you if you ever disobeyed him. Not to mention how much power you might get if he succeeds, and decides to reward you for your faithful duty."

He glared at her. "You do not have the right to judge me so, not when you yourself once served him!"

She closed her eyes briefly, summoning any strength she had left in her. "Fear and ambition are powerful things," she said quietly, "especially when they fuel desire and acts of evil! The need to do anything, to save your own skin, and to satisfy your hunger for power, no matter how heinous the act, is the chink in the armour of your soul… " She opened her eyes, now burning with energy, but not that of her quintessence. _"…And all I need to make you mine!"_

She felt the energy that was not that of her own power, but of the darkness that the spell she was casting originated from, leave her and enter the doctor. The man looked startled for a moment, and then his eyes clouded.

Nerissa hissed, as she felt the man's consciousness fight to take back control of his own mind. Although the spell was supposed to be the ultimate power of control, there was one small problem…and that was the energy source needed for it.

The spell required massive amounts of power to fuel it, which meant that the only thing capable of sustaining it was that of a mystic Heart. Anything else was simply too weak. But with the exception of her newborn daughter, who had yet to tap into her power, Nerissa had no Heart to fuel her spell, which meant she only had her own life force to rely on. And her life force was already weak from the years of constantly using her quintessence, so she didn't have much to rely on.

Without a Heart, she didn't have enough energy to give full power to the spell, which meant she couldn't completely take command over his mind and soul. She could still bend his will to her own, but she had to keep her own mind focused and concentrate fully, otherwise the spell would weaken and break.

"Where…is…my baby?!" she demanded again, frowning as she struggled to maintain her control of the doctor.

"Hexin…took her…" the man slowly replied.

"Where?! Take me!"

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Hexin's agent guided her through the floor's vast corridors. For some reason, she noticed, there appeared to be no other staff or guards.

"Where's the rest of Hexin's people?" she asked.

The doctor answered slowly, his gaze still clouded from the spell. "There…are no others…Hexin did not want…to risk having more people…than he needed…" Although he was still powerless to disobey her, she could feel his mind resisting her control.

They approached a door at the end of the corridor. On it was a symbol of some kind, like a cross with an arrow through it, the likes of which Nerissa had never seen before. "What is this?" she asked.

"I don't know…but…only I, Hexin…and my colleague…are allowed to enter…"

Nerissa paused, as she considered this. The symbol could be magic, to keep her and any intruders out, which meant that she couldn't go inside.

'I probably can't,' she thought, but then suddenly realised. 'But _he_ can.'

She stared hard at the doctor who had her personal tormentor for 9 months. "Open the door!" she commanded. He obeyed, and she watched him as he entered the room.

The room was as bare as her cell, with a few machines making beeping sounds, and a crib located in the centre. Although she couldn't see her, she could hear her daughter's breathing clearly. "Bring her to me!"

He made his way over to the crib, and reached down to pick the baby up.

Nerissa held her breath, as he made his way back over to her, carrying the small infant gently in his arms. He was less than a foot away form her when…

"_Nicely done, Nerissa." _

Her heart leaped in her chest, as she spun around and found Hexin standing a few feet away from her, the second doctor behind him, together with a few guards.

"A spell of control I see," Hexin remarked, eyeing the first doctor behind her. "Rather dark magic, too, I sense. I'm impressed, Nerissa. I always knew you had a dark side to you, but even I never imagined you would go so far as to use this kind of enchantment."

Nerissa glared at him, her face filled with hatred. "You'd be amazed at what lengths a mother will go to protect her children," she promised. "Remember that, Hexin!"

He just smiled at her, with that loathsome smile she had come to detest. "My complements on the spell by the way," he remarked. "Such a one is usually powered by nothing less than a mystic Heart, but you seem to be doing quite well on your own. It is, however, quite wasted on my staff here."

"What?"

He shrugged. "I have many agents, Nerissa, but only a few elite who are my most loyal and trusted followers. When they…_join_ me, I make them swear their allegiance to my power, thereby committing themselves to me, body and soul!" He paused then, and took a look at the man whom she had enslaved, and a second later…

"Huh?!" the doctor stuttered, as he came out of the spell, gazing around in shock. "What happened?"

"Nice try though," Hexin said. "But next time, try snaring the soul of someone who has not already sold his to me."

Nerissa had no time to think, so she relied only on instinct and action to save her…as well as her baby.

"QUINTESSENCE!" she yelled, summoning all the energy she had in her, as she grabbed the baby from her once humble servant.

The effect was instant, as the small machines inside what had been her daughter's room quickly came alive and went mad, rushing out and attacking everything in sight.

"Get these blasted machines under control!" Hexin ordered, as he high-kicked one of them into pieces. "You underestimate me if you think these glorified…" he started to say.

The lights all over the building suddenly went haywire, as they flashed and exploded, sending bursts of glass over the floors, and plunging the rooms into darkness,

Hexin gave a small hiss of pain, as some of the glass from the light bulbs embedded in his skin. "Get her!" he shouted, but all his men could so was to continue fighting in the dark against the small but challenging machines.

"Where's the blasted emergency lighting?!" he ordered. Not even he could see in the dark.

"Master, Nerissa controls all energy, don't forget," one of his men replied. "Depending on how massive her spell was, she could have taken control of all the machinery and energy systems in this complex."

"Then use your torches!"

A few seconds later, the almost whimpering voice of what was supposed to be one of his elite sounded. "They're not working, sir. Nerissa must have got them under her..." He didn't get to finish his last sentence, as something suddenly slammed into his chest, bringing the pumping of his heart to an end.

"Get the lights back on and find them!" Hexin demanded, clenching his sticky hand.

0000000000

The second the lights had gone out, Nerissa had limped quickly down the corridor, carrying her newborn daughter with her. She didn't know the building they were in, but she could remember which way the male doctor had brought her, and she only needed to get a short way away.

She hissed in pain, as the ramifications of using so much of her power flowed through her. The armour on her arm had soaked up most of the pain, but the rest of her was still aching fiercely, as she limped on with her baby in her arms. Luckily, the infant had remained quiet, not alerting the men to their position. She was awake, she could tell that, but did not seem frightened by the total blackness around her.

Either way, Nerissa was not going to question her silence, as right now they needed all the luck they could get.

She could still hear Hexin's men in the distance, so they had not gone far yet, which made their situation all the more trickier. She was relying solely on her memory now, but she had only gone this way once, even if it was just a few minutes ago, so she couldn't be certain how accurate her memory was being.

Knowing she had to take a chance, she switched her baby to her other arm and summoned up a small spark of electricity from her hand, to act as a small torch.

Once she got her bearings, she extinguished the light and moved forward again, passing through a few more corridors until she came to the elevator shaft they had passed on their way to the baby.

Aside from the energy she had used to bring the machines to life, she had soaked up all the electricity there was in this place, like a sponge, to leave Hexin and his men defenceless. Hence there would be no energy to power the elevator, unless she supplied some.

The voices of Hexin's men were still close by, meaning they were still looking for her, and they knew this area far better than she. It would not be long before they found her.

"Quintessence," she said quietly, bringing the elevator back to life, which opened up to her touch. She hurried inside, and commanded the lift to take her out of there…wherever there was. Fortunately, there seemed to be only one way for the lift to go…up.

The elevator powered up and quickly started to lift. It rose for a few minutes, indicating that this complex had to have been buried deep beneath ground, until finally it came to a stop. When the doors opened, Nerissa took a cautious step forward, peeking at her surroundings.

There were no lights on, but whether this was because of her spell or that someone had just left the lights off was uncertain. Fortunately, there were enough lights coming from the windows, revealing to her where she was.

'Hexin's mansion,' she thought, slightly surprised. She supposed it shouldn't come across as a big shock to her, as Hexin would no doubt want to keep as big a project as this close to him at all times.

Unfortunately, this also presented a problem, as since she was in Hexin's home then that meant that his mansion would be well guarded. This also explained why he had never had any other guards down in the complex below, since he would have more than enough up top, and the elevator was the only way out.

Pushing these thoughts to the side, she hurried on. Since she was out of the underground complex, her spell of quintessence should have ended long before now.

She summoned whatever strength she had left again, getting ready to use her power when needed. She was still feeling drained and exhausted from the birth, and her last spell hadn't helped, so she would try and avoid a direct confrontation, using the same old tricks by disguising herself until she was able to escape.

'Let's just hope you stay nice and quiet until after we're out of here, my little darling,' she thought to her daughter, who still remained blissfully silent, her eyes blinking at the sudden light around her, and the curious surroundings.

0000000000

**Present; Meridian: **

"Obviously we escaped," Nerissa told them, as she took in the unbelieving looks of her son Caleb, the Regent Matt and the Guardians. "A few guards came, but I simply camouflaged myself and Lillian, and avoided their detection. After that, we escaped Hexin's mansion once again, and went on the run."

"I don't believe this…" Cornelia silently whispered, but said nothing else.

Caleb was also finding his mother's words hard to believe, but then that was nothing new, as she rarely said anything that was completely honest. But then there was still the small matter of how she was able to know about that locket. Cornelia had not told anyone else about that. How had Nerissa known of the locket that had come with Lillian?

"What happened next?" he asked.

His mother shrugged. "Once we departed Hexin's home, I took Lillian and fled Washington again. Since the first Gate was obviously blocked, I had to do it the old fashioned way…by simply running and hitchhiking."

"All the way back to Heatherfield?" Hay Lin asked in wonder.

"No, of course not!" Nerissa snapped, scolding her like a child. "That would have been the first place where Hexin would have looked for me! I didn't have anywhere specific in mind to go, so I just hopped the first bus I came upon and travelled it to the end."

"And where was that?" Will asked; angry at Nerissa's treatment of her friend, but also more interested in Nerissa's story.

"California…"

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**8 Years Ago; California: **

A middle-aged African-American woman, carrying a Yorkshire terrier with her, stepped off a bus, gazing at the sight around her. The dog made a few whimpering noises, which gained in volume and sounded like it was almost crying. Except these cries were not that of a dog, but seemed more like that of a human baby.

A few passers gave her and the odd mutt a strange look, while the woman just smiled nervously at them and hurried on, telling her "schnukins" to relax and be quiet.

She passed by into a small alley, and as soon as she was clear of any onlookers… Nerissa dropped her glamour and sighed.

"I suppose I should have just glamour-fied you as another baby," she mused. "Having a dog cry like a human baby is something that's bound to get noticed before long."

Her daughter looked up at her with her baby blue eyes, giggling shortly.

Nerissa gave her a small smile back, but she was not happy. She had thought about her next course of action all the way from Heatherfield…and so far she could only think of one way left open to her, and it was not an option she liked.

She had considered bringing her daughter back to Meridian with her, but soon decided against that. Meridian was not a happy place right now, what with Phobos and all the monsters he was allowing to run riot all over the place. She had let her son remain there because in him she saw the potential to be the greatest leader the rebels had ever known, and that was vital to her plans. Overthrowing Phobos was critical if she was to claim the Heart of Meridian's power, and add it to her own to help battle against Hexin.

That being the case, she knew she had to get back to Meridian as soon as possible. Caleb would need all the help he could get if he was to fight Phobos, so she couldn't stay on earth.

And her daughter could not come to Meridian with her, which meant…

Nerissa felt her heart breaking, as she looked down into her daughter's eyes, knowing that for the good of everyone, her child especially, they would have to separate. She would have to leave her here on earth, and hopefully come back for her when the time was right.

'But I can't just leave her here alone, and I can't leave her with just anyone,' she thought. She needed to find someone who was not just ideal to take her in, but also someone who would be ideal to hide her from Hexin.

She smiled, as a plan came into place. All she would need to do was to find a suitable family, one who resembled her so no one would think her/their child was adopted, and who wouldn't reveal it to anyone.

Nerissa frowned. Finding a common resemblance should be easy enough, as she was in California, and so far she had counted nearly a hundred blue-eyed blondes everywhere…but which one?

"_Mommy!"_ a youngster's voice shrieked. _"Mommy, can I have an ice cream?!"_

Disturbed from her thoughts, she looked out of the alley to see a little boy, about 5-6 years old, pulling at his mother's hand, as they passed by.

"_Not yet, sweetie,"_ his mother replied gently. _"I'll get you one as soon as we're at the park." _

'Park!' Nerissa suddenly realised, as an idea came to her.

0000000000

Disguised as an Asian-American woman, this time a younger woman of about 30, with a baby boy curled up in her arms, Nerissa made her way to the nearest park she could find.

She watched all the kids, as they swung on the swings, jumping on the climbing frames, laughing and playing, and couldn't help but feel the tug on her heart as she did so. She thought about Caleb growing up on Meridian, how he rarely had any time to play because he and his father were usually dodging Phobos's forces, or training to one day be the great rebel leader she knew he was destined to be.

She had never had any regrets or second thoughts about what she had planned for her son. With him they could defeat Phobos, and through his defeat she could lay claim to the Heart of Meridian and begin her quest of bringing the scourge of Hexin to an end. But now…

Looking at all the children playing, without any care in the world, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for the life she had put her son in. He would never be able to play kids' games because he would forever be running for his life.

Nerissa mentally shook herself. 'I do what I have to do!' she told herself. 'Hexin has to be stopped, and to do that I need power, plain and simple.'

She thought about the council of Kandrakar, wondering for what seemed like the millionth time if she should ask them for help, but in an instant her thoughts turned dark and enraged. When she thought of them, all she remembered was her cell on Mount Thanatos and all the years she spent rotting in it.

"One day," she swore silently. "I will make them all…"

A little girl squealed next to her, as a small boy spilled some sand down her neck, making her run after him, bringing her out of her thoughts. She shook herself again, and carried on with what she had originally come there to do.

She stared hard at all the children on the playground. There were a good number of them there today, which was lucky for her, as she had a larger selection to choose from. She stared at all the children, noting some for their freckles, the tan of their skin, the colour of their eyes. A lot of them were blonde and blue eyed, but didn't resemble her daughter much.

'Then again' she thought. 'She is only a baby. Chances are her face will…'

"_Again, daddy, again!"_ a little girl's voice squealed from behind her. Nerissa turned around and saw a small child being twirled around in her father's arms, a woman laughing behind them.

Nerissa stopped and stared at the family. They were all blonde and blue eyed, especially the child, but she… The little girl looked almost exactly like a younger version of Beata Serce, from the photo she had seen once of her!

She looked down at her daughter once again, comparing the face and the eyes to that of the older child, and found them to be uncanny. The resemblance was amazing.

"Perfect!" she said, smiling.

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**Present; Meridian: **

"The rest was simple," Nerissa explained, looking to Cornelia. "I simply followed you and your parents home, to your old house in California, and then returned, posing as a woman from social services…"

The familiar circle of energy suddenly rose above and around Nerissa, altering her form, as done many times before. When it dissipated, it left behind an elderly woman with a bun of grey hair, a thin nose and rimmed glasses starring at them.

"Mrs Jenkins at your service," Nerissa introduced her old form, bowing shortly before them all. None were impressed.

"I told them a fake story about Lillian's birth parents being distant relatives of theirs, who had died tragically." Nerissa went on, as she changed back. "Lillian was their only child, and the Hales were her closest family. It took some convincing, but as it turned out your parents were softhearted people, especially when I brought Lillian in to see them. I knew from the moment they saw her, they were hooked."

Cornelia didn't like the way Nerissa spoke about her parents, almost gloating about how easily they had been conned. She was still trying to come to terms with everything the witch had told them so far.

"But…the papers!" she said. "My parents had papers from social services, which they had to sign. I saw them!"

Nerissa shrugged. "I didn't bring Lillian to see them right away. I spent the next few days going in and out of an office building for an adoption agency. I was able to get all the papers I needed from them, gave them to your parents to sign so if anyone asked where Lillian came from, all they would have to do was show them. No one ever suspected."

"What if Hexin had found out, like he's done already?!" Cornelia fumed. "What if he had found out like 5 years ago?! Did you ever consider what might happen then, you witch?!"

"Hey! That's our nickname, remember?" Irma interrupted.

Nerissa just met Cornelia's stern glare with one of her own. "I took precautions."

"Oh yeah! Like what?!"

0000000000

**8 Years Ago; Heatherfield: **

"I think you'll find this shop to your liking, Miss Smith," the realtor told her, as he unlocked the doors to the empty store, showing her in.

Nerissa paid little attention to what he was saying, as she had no desire to buy or rent the store. She simply needed to get in and find those talismans she had brought with her from Meridian, but she knew that Hexin would no doubt have the place watched, in case she returned, since this was the only known other Gateway.

The safest way she could think of to get into the store, without Hexin going after her, was if she went in broad daylight, with plenty of people around, and with the official realtor.

"May I have a look around?" she asked, not waiting to see if he agreed or not, and starting searching the floor of the store.

She walked near to the bookcase, which she remembered materialising out of when she came through from Meridian. She turned around to see Mr Rogers, the realtor, handling some paperwork, so she quickly scooped down to inspect the floor.

Running her fingers under the bookcase, she soon found what she was looking for…or half anyway.

She pulled one of the Tonga clippings out, with the magnetic sand still on it no less, resisting the urge to squeal in delight, but her joy was short-lived when she pushed her hand back underneath, and found no sign of the second clipping.

She swore, and tried to continue looking, but the thing in her arms was making it difficult, as it squirmed and…

"It's fairly new, so everything is in splendid condition," the realtor continued, making her jump from the floor, as he explained about the store, seemingly eager for her to make an offer. "I'm certain it would make a perfect little place to start a business. Just the thing for you and your little bundle there."

He made a brief smile and a ridiculous face at the baby in her arms. "Oh, she is a sweetie!" he said. "How old is she?"

Nerissa looked down to the baby girl. "Just over a week," she replied.

"What's her name?"

Nerissa paused at that for a few moments. "Lillian," she simply said.

It wouldn't have been her first choice for a name, but in all her planning and setting everything up with the Hales, she had neglected to consider a name for her daughter. She had just told the Hales that the child's parents had died before choosing a name for her, so they got to choose, deciding to name her Lillian.

It was a pretty little name, she supposed, though she would have preferred something like Esmeralda, Francesca or Carmen.

"Is there anything wrong with this store, Mr Rogers?" she suddenly asked, wanting to get away from this topic, and she couldn't resist asking this question, while smiling inwardly.

He paled a little, as though he had been caught out. "Err…no-no, of course not! The store is a charming little…"

"I had heard some stories about…_problems_ from the other tenants?" she went on, smiling at his discomfort. Clearly, he wanted this sale to go through, if only to get rid of the store. "They were having some difficulties with the building, such as strange noises, lights going on and off by themselves… This place doesn't have rats, does it?"

The realtor gulped, which made Nerissa want to laugh.

Just then, the door barged open.

Nerissa clenched her fists, guessing who it was immediately, as she turned around.

"Excuse me!" the realtor demanded. "What do you think you are…"

A sound of something whizzing through the air soon followed, and a second later Mr Rogers fell to the floor unconscious.

"Never could stand realtors," Hexin remarked, and then looked over to his former agent. "Hello, Nerissa. Had a nice run this week?"

She shrugged, as her glamour illusion faded, revealing her true form. "It gave me a good workout."

"I'm sure it did, but now your running has come to an end." Hexin took a step closer to her. "I wasn't certain you would come back to this place, but I know that if you had any desire to return to that other world you would. I must say I'm delighted you prove me right."

"Always a pleasure to help you in a few things," she said, sneering.

Hexin did not smile. "I want that baby, Nerissa," he said plainly and simply. "My people and I put a lot of time and effort into her creation, and now we want to see our work fulfilled."

"You mean the work where you sacrifice her, so that you can get your blasted Heart back and rule the universe!" she shot back.

He shrugged. "In a nutshell…yes!"

Nerissa scoffed. "Well, let me put this to you in as plain as words as I can… " she began, and then… "Oculus de mundus, aperire aput meum imperium!" (Eye of the universe, open at my command!)

With those words, she threw the single clipping at the bookcase. The instant it touched the shelves…

[WHOOSH!]

The bookshelf seemed to turn in on itself, as a portal opened from out of nowhere.

"It seems my marathon is going to carry on for a little bit longer!" she shouted at him, not caring (or having the time) to look back on him, as she held the now crying baby close to her chest, and raced through the portal.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hexin's enraged cry echoed throughout the store, and followed her into Meridian.

Hexin ran to the portal, but it had already closed the second Nerissa had entered it.

"Find them!" he said, turning to his agents and commanding them. "I don't care what it takes, just find them!"

0000000000

On Meridian, in one of the few last plentiful places that were left since Phobos had begun draining the planet's life force for his own…

The peace and quiet of the scenery was shattered, as a portal raged open and dropped Nerissa right into a mud-puddle, scaring all the indigenous wildlife away.

"Urgh!" she moaned, as she stood up, slapping her hands at the mud on her dress. "I hate portals!" she swore.

The baby lay on the ground crying, but Nerissa did not even kneel down to pick it up. "Oh, put a sock in it!" she told it, and clicked her fingers.

A second later, the circle of her energy power rose up and over the small infant, revealing the human baby to be…a Persian cat!

"Off you go now!" she told the feline. "Scat!" The cat gave a whine and a meow, and then ran off.

Nerissa sighed deeply. She had found the cat living on the streets, just shortly before she had arrived at the store, and had managed to coax it to her with some food, after which she had simply disguised it with her glamour powers, giving it the form of her daughter, now named Lillian.

Her thoughts went back to her daughter, whom she had left behind in California with her new family, the Hales, a few days ago. Nerissa knew Lillian would be safer with them, and if Hexin believed that the baby had come with her to Meridian, he would never think to look for her on earth. It had all been a simply matter of changing something into her daughter's form, which was where the cat had come in.

She knew she was taking a big risk, but there was no choice. Lillian, as the Heart of Earth, would be in even more danger here on Meridian than she would be on Earth. For if Phobos were to discover her, he would surely drain her power as he intended to drain his own sisters'. Even if he didn't find her, Meridian was certainly no happy place for a child to grow up in, not as long as Phobos was in control. And she couldn't make time for her and Caleb, not while posing as both the Mage and the castle-servant Trill.

"It's all part of the plan!" she insisted to herself. "That's all that matters. The plan…defeat Phobos, return his sister to Meridian, drain her power, and then…"

'And then what?' she suddenly realised. Even if she did get the Heart of Meridian's power for her own, would that be enough for her to stop Hexin?

Hexin had spent aeons planning for his return to power, and as a result had almost endless resources at his disposal. Suppose one mere Heart wasn't enough? But even if that were so, what could she do about it?

Nerissa thought long and hard, and then suddenly her face took on a dark look. "I'll just have to get more power," she deduced. "And if need be, I'll track down all my former friends and convince them to help me also!"

She thought back on the spell of control she had used on one of Hexin's doctors. When she had first used it, it had repulsed her, knowing what dark magic it held, and even now the thought of using it again was like poison to her. Yet…it was the safest, fastest and most secure way to enlist loyal soldiers to her cause.

"For the plan," she repeated. "To stop Hexin, to save the universe…!"

0000000000

**Present; Meridian:**

Nerissa ended her tale a long sigh. "And that's pretty much it," she explained. "The rest you know… I spent the next few years continuing to pose as Trill and the Mage, until eventually Phobos was defeated and Elyon returned to Meridian."

"Yeah, and we all know what happened next," Irma grumbled, earning a short glare from her enemy, but who said nothing else.

"I don't believe any of this!" Cornelia finally stated. "This is all just another trick of yours!"

Nerissa snorted, giving the girl a disdainful look. "You are a hard one to convince, aren't you? All right, how about this… The locket that came with Lillian, which I have already said came from me, handed down from my grandmother. It also has some Spanish writing on it, which says… _A todas mis hijas, que esto les traiga suerte en el mas feliz de sus dias."_

Cornelia paused.

"Which translates into... _To All My Daughters, May This Bring You Luck On Your Happiest Of Days_." She shrugged. "Like I said, it was an engagement present from her husband."

Will turned to look at her friend, and saw that Cornelia was struggling again with Nerissa's revelation, but there was no denying it now. Nerissa had admitted knowing about the locket, which Cornelia hadn't told even they, and now she had revealed knowing about the engraving on it as well.

She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, to comfort her, but Cornelia didn't even acknowledge it.

"You went after your own daughter's power," Caleb suddenly noted, referring to when she went after Lillian when she first manifested her power.

Nerissa just sighed. "As I explained to your girlfriend here… I didn't have a choice. When Lillian's power revealed itself, I knew it was only a matter of time before Hexin located her. I planned to take her power to protect her."

"I can understand that," Taranee suddenly spoke up, making everyone turn in amazement at her.

She shrugged. "Hey, it makes sense. If Lillian hadn't gotten her powers under control, Hexin would have found her a lot sooner. We would have probably done the same if we had known about him, and we did more or less got her to lose her powers, even if only temporarily."

Nerissa smirked at the rest of them, but Taranee was not yet finished…

"But maybe you'd like to explain to us why you went after her powers the _second time_?!" Taranee then asked, looking at her dangerously.

Nerissa stared at her, her face frozen at a seemingly loss for words.

"Like I said," Taranee explained, "I can understand why you went after Lillian's powers the first time. We probably would have done the same thing, if we had known a madman like Hexin was after her, but…what about when you went after her on Halloween? Her powers weren't going out of control then, Hexin didn't have a clue about her…you had no reason to go after her, so why did you?"

Nerissa seemed to stutter for a few seconds. "I…Well, I…"

"We're waiting, Nerissa," Will simply said, her arms folded and her eyes thinned at her.

"I-I decided…her powers would be safer…with me."

At that last word, Will suddenly brought up a bark of laughter. "Safe with you? HA!" She laughed. "Is that really the best excuse you can come up with, _Rissy_?!" She used Cassidy's old nickname for her, making Nerissa want to glare daggers, but Will just kept on talking.

Cassidy had long since moved back in with her mother, since her resurrection, thanks to Nerissa, which she was loathed to admit she was grateful to her for. Although Cassidy was a gently and compassionate person, even she had her limits, considering how Nerissa had enslaved her mind and spirit, using her to attack innocents and then imprisoning her in that damn Seal of hers. She had said that she would be more than happy if she never spoke or saw Nerissa again.

Explaining to her mother how she was suddenly alive again had been more than tricky. Not to mention the fact that Cassidy was as young now as she had been when she had died over 40 years ago. But her mother had been simply so ecstatic over the miraculous return of her daughter that she hadn't even cared to ask. Whether that would remain so was yet to be seen, so the Guardians had decided to simply deal with the problem when and if it eventually came.

"I did what I…" Nerissa began.

"What you had to, yeah-yeah," Irma muttered loudly. "Listen, sister…you're starting to sound like an broken record. Truth is, you stopped doing what was best for Lillian long before Halloween."

"She's right," Hay Lin added. "Maybe you did go after her powers to save her the first time, but on the second…"

"It was for her power, plain and simple," Caleb finished. "Because that's all you cared for!"

Nerissa stared at her son, as though he had taken his sword and stabbed her through her heart. "Caleb…"

"Don't bother denying it, because you know it's true!" he retorted. "Maybe you started out fighting the good fight, mom, but somewhere along the line you lost your way! You didn't need to trap the council, you didn't need to steal everyone's mystic Hearts, and you certainly didn't need to enslave anyone's mind! You could have just told them about Hexin and they would've helped, and don't you dare try saying they wouldn't have believed you because you know the Oracle better than that!"

He gave her a hard glare, on his last sentence, making her keep her mouth shut.

"Fact is, you got greedy! The more power you got, the more you wanted! You would've kept on getting more and more, until finally you were so obsessed with getting it, you would've forgotten all about Hexin, and maybe even me, dad and Lillian, too."

He looked at her. "Tell me I'm wrong! You look me in the eye, and tell me that when you were going after Lillian's Familiar, Napoleon, you were doing it solely for the good of your daughter and the rest of the universe! That you weren't even thinking a smidge about just getting more power for yourself!"

His mother stared at him, her eyes full of tears, probably the first in a long time, but she said nothing.

"How'd she even get her powers so young anyway, if all mystic Hearts aren't supposed to get theirs until their teens?" Hay Lin then wondered aloud.

Taranee shrugged. "How many Hearts are born in a laboratory through science?" she questioned back. "Maybe the whole resurrection of the Heart of Earth caused Lillian to get her powers early…or maybe Hexin planned it that way. We'll never know for sure."

"Either way, we've got bigger problems now," Will realised. "Hexin now knows about Lillian! He knows she's the Heart of Earth, and he knows where she lives. And if he gets his hands on her… Well, we all know what he has planned for her, don't we."

Everyone shuddered as they recalled Nerissa's story of Hexin's plan to sacrifice Lillian to re-obtain the Heart of Kandrakar for himself.

"Well, we're safe for now anyway," Irma said hopefully. "After all, Lillian's here on Meridian and Hexin can't cross to other worlds, right?"

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**Earth; Heatherfield: **

Napoleon coughed, his throat hot and dry, as the large man carried him in a carrier. Unlike most cat carriers, this one didn't have a window or anything for him to look out of, so he had no idea where he was or where he was going.

"I don't suppose you'd tell me where you're taking me?" he called out hoarsely, not even bothering to remain quiet to keep his secret. These men already knew about him, as they were the lackeys of this guy Hexin.

He had met Hexin not too long after he regained consciousness _again_. At first, Napoleon had continued playing the dumb but lovable kitty, but this dude Hexin was wise to his tricks, and knew a lot more than most guys. Somehow, he knew that Lillian was the Heart of Earth, and because of that he knew that Napoleon had to be her Familiar, since all Hearts of Earth had a guardian spirit.

When Napoleon still refused to talk, Hexin had rewarded him with a few taser shocks until at last his voice betrayed him, as he cried out in pain. Worse yet, he found that he couldn't transport himself out of there! While he had been out of it, they had strapped some kind of mystical collar on him, which somehow drained him of his powers, making him as helpless as a regular cat.

Hexin had questioned him for a while, demanding answers about Lillian and her sister. Napoleon managed to tough it out for a few hours, refusing to answer anything, but gradually the electric shocks and drug they kept pumping into him loosened his tongue.

Strangely enough, Hexin did not ask that many questions about the Guardians, which was partly what Napoleon had been expecting. He did, however, ask a lot about Lillian, but nothing about her power, which again was a bit of a surprise. He seemed more interested for some reason in her family, and more oddly…in Nerissa?

Hexin seemed to be under the impression that Nerissa played some sort of role in Lillian's life. Napoleon didn't know who had been more confused when he told the guy that the only role Nerissa had played with his charge was when she had tried to steal her power a couple of times.

After that, he had asked more questions, but this time about her sister Cornelia. Eventually, in his delirium, Napoleon mentioned Meridian, where _Nerissa_ had lived most of her life.

That seemed to be the one answer Hexin had been looking for, as immediately he had ordered his men to bring Napoleon with them. Beyond that, Napoleon didn't know anything else, as the carrier he was in had nothing for him to spy out of, and the damn collar restrained his powers!

The hallucinogenic drugs they had been giving him did not seem to last long, but they left him feeling sick and dizzy, and his throat feeling like a litterbin.

"Worse service ever!" he yelled out. "Tell your manager I won't be staying in this hotel again!"

Suddenly, the carrier was dropped down on the floor, and Napoleon heard the locks outside it being undone. He valiantly tried to prepare himself to jump out and make a run for it, but the drug's affects were still too strong for him to even stand properly.

The carrier opened, and a large hand reached in to grab him.

Napoleon may not be strong enough to escape, but he did manage to get at least one up on these guys.

"MEOW!" he hissed, and sank his sharp teeth into the guy's hand, tearing out a good chunk of it.

"YEOW!" the man cried out, retreating his hand instantly, where even now a good drop of blood was beginning to ooze out of it.

"Ha...ha…" Napoleon laughed weakly.

His victory was short-lived, however, when another hand quickly reached in and grabbed him. He tried biting this one as before, but this second guy was clever, as he had grabbed Napoleon by the head first, clamming his mouth shut, and then lifting him with his second hand.

Napoleon didn't need to look at him to know who the second man was. "Nice to see you again, champ," he said, his voice muffled with Hexin's hand over his face.

Hexin made no reply, and instead carried the small cat over to a large machine set in the middle of the room.

As they locked him in place with some small chains and holders, and attached him to the device via a number of wires and clips, Napoleon looked around to see where he was. He found, to his surprise, that he was at the old bookstore. It was still nighttime, the shutters on the windows had been drawn and the doors locked. Clearly, Hexin wanted no interruptions.

The last time he had been here was when they had tried trapping Nerissa on Halloween. So far, the place hadn't changed much, with the exception of the large machine standing in the centre of it. It looked like something of a huge laser from one of those old sci-fi films.

"If you wanted me to play a role in your sci-fi flick, you coulda just asked," he said, as Hexin removed his hand from him, once the final wire had been pushed into the feline's skin.

Hexin smiled. "You're playing a major role tonight, my little Familiar," he said, but told him nothing else, as he looked to the rest of his staff in the store. "Activate it!" he commanded.

One of the men threw a switch on the laser, and at once Napoleon felt something like a thousand volts go through his entire body. He screamed and meowed louder than he had ever done before, wanting to grasp at the wires and yank them out, but being unable to.

At first, the volts felt like your typical electric shock, but then it was as if they were draining the life right out of him. His body felt like it was aging a year a second.

Hexin watched, as the lights from the machine passed through the cat Familiar and into the second half of the device. The laser had a large funnel at the end, which glowed brighter and brighter with each second, seemingly filling it with the energy taken from the cat.

A few seconds later, a red light shone on the control board, and one of the technicians deactivated the device.

Napoleon felt the machine power down, and his body heaved a huge sigh of relief, as his body slummed down in sheer exhaustion, quivering in pain and fear.

"It's ready," the technician reported.

Hexin nodded. "Then do it!"

The technician punched some instructions onto the keyboard, and a short time later the laser at the end realigned itself, taking aim on the lone bookcase near the back of the room. "By your command," he said, holding his hand over a single red button.

"Now!"

He pushed the button, and a second later a loud hum seemed to shudder through the whole machine, and a beam shot out of the end, striking the bookcase. The instant it did, the bookcase seemed to fold in on itself, as a portal opened up out of nowhere.

Hexin smiled. "Very good," he said, seemingly impressed. "Now, we can really get down to business."

**To Be Continued…**


	8. Chapter 8

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

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**Meridian; Infinite City: **

"We need to figure out what our next course of action should be," Will told them.

"You only need to do one simple thing!" Nerissa told them, frustrated. "Just keep the damn Heart away from him! That is the one thing that will give him ultimate victory, which must never be!"

"Thanks for the tip," Irma sneered. "But I think we've had enough experience with bad guys to figure out our own battle plans, thank you very much. Will?"

Their leader gave a sheepish smile. "Well…yeah. What Nerissa says is our main goal, of course…"

Irma fumed while Nerissa just gave her a superior grin.

"But it's not our only concern," Will added. "We can't hide out for the rest of our lives from this guy, no matter how powerful he's supposed to be. We need to find a way to defeat him."

"What do you think I've been doing for nearly four decades?" Nerissa asked. "Besides everything else I did, I searched for ways that would help me in defeating him… Nothing worked! Hexin has been on earth since before the first civilisations were created, he knows all manner of spells and charms, and how to counteract them, and for all I know was the one who first invented the martial arts."

"Then we'll find something else to use," Will replied. "No one is invulnerable. There has to be a way."

"Well, we need to find it now!" Nerissa said desperately. "Time is running out."

"What do you mean?"

Nerissa sighed heavily, her eyes looking ready to cry. "Remember what I told you about the spell Hexin intends for Lillian? What acquirements are essential for the spell to take affect?"

"Besides Lillian…" Will frowned.

"You said the ritual could only be done at a specific time when the stars are in a certain alignment!" Taranee suddenly remembered.

"Yes," Nerissa moaned. "And guess what…" She paused for a moment, letting what she had just said sink in, giving them the opportunity to figure it out for themselves. "The night of the stars' alignment is tomorrow night!"

"WHAT?!"

"Why do you think I was there at your apartment?" Nerissa sneered, looking straight at Cornelia. "I knew that if Hexin had found Lillian by then, he would waste no time and go after her by tomorrow at the latest."

"Why didn't you tell us this?!" Cornelia shouted.

"I just did."

Everyone glared at her.

"Then all we need do is keep her safe until the alignment has passed, and then…" Cornelia deduced.

"The alignment isn't a once in a lifetime moment," Nerissa explained sadly. "It comes at numerous times throughout the years, sometimes once in a couple of decades and sometimes twice in a few years. Even if we keep Lillian safe from this one, there will be another time Hexin can use her, and if it's one thing he has plenty of, it's _time_."

"Terrific," Will said with a moan.

They all remained quiet for a few minutes, no one knowing what to say next. More than one of them resisted the urge to start whistling.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Hay Lyn suddenly asked, looking at Nerissa.

The Mexican woman stared at her in irritation. "What?!"

"Well, I was just curious about something…"

"Hmmm?"

"Well, how come your disguises as Trill and the Mage looked older than what they did when you first created them?"

At Nerissa's blank look, she added, "Elyon told me that when she went into your mind and saw what she thought were her birth parents, you...or that is _Trill_ looked younger?"

Nerissa shrugged. "I should think that would be obvious," she explained arrogantly. "When I took on the Trill form I created for myself, I naturally had to make it believable. If I were to spend years on Meridian in a form that never aged, don't you think people would have started getting suspicious?"

Hay Lyn thinned her eyes, but said nothing.

"I aged it over the years so that no one would suspect. A little weight around the cheeks, a wrinkle here, a grey hair there, and no one was the wiser."

"Okay, I understand that," Hay Lyn admitted. "But…why did you age your Mage form though? It can't be for the same reason."

At her and everyone else's curious looks, she explained. "The Mage has been young and beautiful for centuries, like thousands of years. Why would she have suddenly started to age then?

Hay Lyn's words provoked a spark of realisation in everyone, as they all stared at Nerissa in question.

Nerissa, however, looked as though she didn't want to answer, as she mumbled something angrily.

"What was that?" Caleb asked, as curious as everyone else.

His mother snarled. "It was a mistake, alright!" she finally admitted, albeit reluctantly. "When I was coming up with the glamours, in which I would lead my double and triple lives, I tried to have everything planned perfectly so that no one would suspect my true identity. I did the whole aging thing with Trill so no one would find out, but…"

She paused, grumbling. "Inadvertently, I ended up doing the same thing with my Mage form. It didn't even occur to me until years later that the Mage was immortal, and therefore I had no need to age my form of her. Unfortunately, by the time I realised that, it was too late. Caleb and Julian had observed me for years as I got older, so there was no way I could just suddenly stop and de-age myself, at least not without alerting anyone to my secret!"

"Didn't anyone suspect?" Caleb asked, seemingly amazed.

"Not anyone on Meridian. Mostly because I kept myself hidden behind the waterfall gate, the same as the real Mage did for centuries, so no one ever really got a good look at her. And the only ones who got a good look at me, aside from the odd rebel, were Julian and Caleb, but I guess they just assumed my aging was normal."

Caleb muttered beneath his breath.

"What about the Council?" Will added.

Nerissa shrugged. "By the time we met at the first Council meeting, I had long since planned a story to tell them… I simply explained that I had been using my powers strenuously over the years, by helping the rebels in dealing with Phobos, and the cost had been high in my life force. And with the Oracle's foresight temporarily incapacitated, they believed me."

Hay Lyn blinked. "Wow, you're really a good liar, aren't you?!"

Nerissa gave her a long stare, and opened her mouth to speak again. But before she could…

[BOOM!]

The entire Infinity City seemed to shake around them.

"What on Meridian?!" Irma swore.

Nerissa didn't even need to think what was the course. "Hexin!" she hissed.

"Oh, come on! How could he get here?" Cornelia rebuked her.

Nerissa just gave her a sideways glance. "He's Hexin," she simply replied. "There is little he can not do."

A look of alarm crossed Caleb's face. "Elyon!"

0000000000

**Elyon's Palace: **

"What is that?!" Elyon demanded, rising from her bed and hurrying to her window. What she saw outside made her gasp. A few moments later, her parents came rushing in.

"Is it Phobos again?" she asked her father.

Alborn shook his head. "No, we…we don't know who it is, Elyon, but…"

"But what?"

Her mother seemed shocked, too, but she was at least able to speak. "The men who attack," Miriadel explained. "They appear to be…from Earth."

"Earth?!"

They nodded. "We don't recognise the uniforms they wear," Miriadel added, "so they're clearly not American military."

"How can you be sure they're from Earth?" Elyon asked. "We do have humans living here on Meridian, too."

"They carry guns, hand-grenades and other such weapons, Elyon," Alborn explained. "Meridian has none of those kinds of weapons."

Elyon swore. "How is this possible?" she asked finally.

"We do not know," her mother replied. "They just appeared suddenly through a large portal. They clearly intend us harm, though why we do not know."

"Prepare for battle," Elyon commanded. "I will meet with their leader first and see what their demands are. If they truly mean us harm then I will see to them. No one is to interrupt us in the proceedings, and that is an order! Understand?"

Her parents bowed. "As you command, My Queen," her father replied, giving his adopted daughter and monarch the respect she so rightly deserved. With that, he and his wife left the room.

Elyon wasted no time and grabbed her dress hanging in the wardrobe. A she clothed herself, she couldn't stop wondering how in all creation could people from Earth be here on Meridian?

0000000000

"Don't be a fool!" Nerissa yelled at her son.

"I have to get to the Palace!" Caleb yelled back. "If Hexin is here, then I have to help protect Elyon at all costs!"

"And how much of your protection do you think will be adequate if Hexin gets his hands on Lillian?!" she shot back.

"The same could be said if he gets Elyon," Taranee added. "Don't forget, she's a Heart, too. He could use her for his spell instead of Lillian."

"And have you forgotten that you have the Heart of Kandrakar, which is what he's after in the first place?!"

"We have to help!" Hay Lyn exclaimed. "We can't let the Meridians fight Hexin. They have no idea what they're letting themselves in for."

"You've got a point," Will agreed. "We could…" She paused.

"What?" Irma asked.

Will looked to Caleb. "Caleb, would you be willing to take the Heart of Kandrakar for us? Just keep it on you, and keep it hidden from Hexin while we fight him?"

"Hexin can sense the Heart if it's close by," Nerissa told them. "He can probably sense it now."

"Well, we can't leave it undefended, and we're going to need all the force we can get against him," Will explained, and at Nerissa's look she added, "And don't even think about asking to look after the Heart for us!"

The dark-haired witch glared at her, but said nothing.

"I'll do it," Caleb answered Will's earlier question. "I'll look after the Heart. I'll stay back at the Palace with Elyon and the other guards. That way I'll be far from Hexin, and if he should come up, I'll steer clear of him."

Will nodded. "Okay, but what about Lillian?" she then asked.

"I'll stay here with her."

Everyone all turned to stare at Nerissa.

"You must be joking," Cornelia could only stutter at her.

"Why on earth would…" Irma tried to add.

"Do you have any other options?!" Nerissa snapped. "You said yourself that all of you will be needed for the battle. I have already been guarding Lillian till your arrival, and for the rest of her life before then!"

Cornelia opened her mouth to retort, but Will touched her shoulder, silencing her. "Alright, you'll be her bodyguard."

Everyone stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Come on, guys, you know it makes sense!" Will told them, though from her tone it was obvious she liked it as much as they did. "Nerissa knows Hexin, so she'll be the best person to fight him if he comes here."

"Wouldn't that make her ideal to fight him topside then?" Irma queried.

Will shook her head. "Like she said, Hexin only wants a Heart so that he can get ours. If we all go up to protect Elyon, then Lily will be on her own, and none of us have the real experience in fighting him. So no, we'll all go up to battle him, and warn Elyon to stay away from him. The lot of us should be enough at least to keep Elyon safe, together with her power and army, while Lily should be okay with Nerissa."

"_Should_ be?!" Cornelia stuttered.

"You got a better idea, let me know of it?!"

"What if we take Lily home?" Irma suggested. "Or at least somewhere other than here."

"Hexin somehow found Lily all the way from Earth to here on Meridian. If he could do that once, then chances are he could do it again. There may be no place safe enough for us to hide her."

"We don't know that for sure." Taranee thought aloud.

"You wanna take the risk?"

Everyone was silent then.

"I really, really don't like this, Will," Cornelia spoke, looking aghast but resigned.

"I'm not exactly thrilled about it myself, but what other choice have we?"

"We'll stay here, too!" Matt/Shagon suddenly interjected. He had kept quiet all this time, letting events unfold, but had chosen now to speak. "We're Lillian's Regents after all, so we should stay to protect her."

Another loud boom and shudder went through the underground city, making everyone look upward, even though they couldn't naturally see anything.

"Okay, the guys stay here. The rest of us go up top!" Will and the others began to move out, except for Cornelia who lingered a moment longer.

"Cornelia?" Will asked from behind her.

Cornelia gave Nerissa one of the hardest looks she had ever gave anyone in her entire life. "If you do anything to hurt my sister, witch, I swear…not all the magic in all the universe will save you from _me_!"

0000000000

**Several Minutes Later:**

Hexin stood at the foot of the portal, watching as his private army stormed through into Meridian. His research and charms had told him all he needed to know about this world. At the time when he had first been banished to Earth, Meridian had been nothing more than a savage world of primitive primates, virtually no intelligent life.

'Guess they beefed up,' he thought amusedly.

His men opened fire, shooting the Meridian soldiers on sight. Hexin paid them no heed, keeping his eyes open for the true objects of his desire.

Sure enough, they soon came into view…six of them anyway.

"My Lord," his Commander reported. "The Queen of this world approaches!"

"I can see that," Hexin replied simply, eyeing as the four Guardians and who he assumed was the queen, and current Heart of Meridian, approach them. "Take aim and fire on my command."

0000000000

"Cornelia?" Elyon asked, as she flew over to the attacking army, and Cornelia came up beside her. "What are you…?"

"Never mind that now?!" her friend shrieked. "Get the hell out of here!"

"What?"

"Elyon, listen to her!" Will shouted beyond her. "You're in terrible danger! Whatever happens, you cannot let yourself get anywhere near the guy leading this army!"

"He's attacking my people!" Elyon said aghast. "I can't just stand by and…"

"You can and you will!" Will snapped. "There's a whole lot more going on here than you can imagine, Elyon! It's imperative that Hexin doesn't get you, or else its curtains for all of us!"

"Hexin?"

"The head guy of this army," Irma explained.

"But shouldn't I…?

"NO!" all five Guardians shouted.

"Elyon, trust me, just get out…" Cornelia started, nut never finished.

"ARGH!" Elyon yelped, as something shot into her. It looked to be no more than some kind of tranquilliser dart, though.

"What the hell…?" Irma quipped.

"Elyon, quick, back to the castle!" Will ordered.

Elyon pulled the dart out and cast it to the ground, rubbing her shoulder where it had penetrated her. "Funny," she said aloud, "I don't feel sleepy."

"Doesn't matter, we don't know what that thing was! Let's get you home straight away!"

"Why?" the queen asked curiously. "I…"

A loud chorus of screams came from below, and Elyon watched with horror as dozens of her Sentry soldiers were shot down with Hexin's guns.

"NO!" she screamed, and raised her hands to summon a hail of wind to sweep the invaders away. "YOU WILL NOT HURT MY PEOPLE!"

"Elyon, wait!"

The wind came as Elyon intended, but…there was something wrong? Almost from the moment the dart had hit her, she had started to feel a creeping sensation of stiffness and pain inside her. It started out at her shoulder, where the dart had hit her, and seemed to be growing throughout her arm.

Hexin's men yelled, as they were swept up into a huge hurricane, blown clear across the battlefield. Elyon's guards gave out cries of joy, praising their queen for her protection.

But with every passing second, the pain in Elyon increased, making it harder and harder for her to keep the hurricane going, and even harder to keep herself floating in the air.

"Urhhh," she moaned, doubling over like she had a stomach cramp.

"Elyon, what's wrong?!" Cornelia cried out worriedly.

"I…don't know," she admitted, fighting to keep herself from falling. "It feels like…AAARGGGHHH!" She screamed.

"ELYON!" her friend shrieked, as Elyon seemingly lost control and began to fall right back down to Meridian.

Hay Lyn gasped, and immediately summoned a gale of her own to catch her friend, lowering her safely back to solid ground.

"Elyon?!"

The queen of Meridian gasped, but the pain finally seemed to be easing off. Within moments, it was gone. "I'm…I'm fine," she rasped out.

"What happened?" Will all but demanded.

"I don't know. It was like…I'm not sure. I just felt pain all around me. It was like I was being electrocuted from the inside out."

The Guardians looked at her in question, and Will was about to ask more, but another blast from Hexin's men shook the ground beneath them, and the screams of Elyon's men soon filled the air yet again.

"My people!" Elyon yelled, getting up hurriedly.

"Elyon, wait, you can't…!"

"I'm fine!" her friend snapped, and immediately started up another spell. "These men will pay dearly for…AAARRRGHHHHH!" Her screams added to those of her own soldiers.

As her friends watched on in horror, Elyon's body seemed to emit a vast amount of electricity, like Will did whenever she summoned her Quintessence power. Except Elyon seemed to have no protection against this power, as she screamed in agony.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, it finished, and Elyon slumped to the ground.

"Elyon!" Cornelia shrieked again, grabbing her friend by the shoulders, but this time she was out cold.

"Hexin!" Will deduced, snarling beneath her breath.

"That dart he hit Elyon with must have had some kind of magic suppression," Taranee thought aloud. "Something that would keep Elyon from using her powers in battle."

"Swell," Will groaned.

0000000000

**Infinite City; Same Time: **

Another loud boom sounded and the room shuddered, as Nerissa felt dust from the ceiling fall down on her. She walked over to Lillian, gently stroking her face as she slept soundly through all the noise.

Shagon and Kor remained standing where they were. They each glared at Nerissa, but said nothing.

"Everything will be fine," she whispered, though it was mostly to herself since Lillian could hear nothing because of the spell. "No one will…"

A loud explosion, one far nearer than any of the previous others, rocked the room, and Nerissa felt herself thrown to the nearby wall by the impact. She banged into the wall, knocking her head hard.

The wall, which had been the entrance/exit from the room itself, stood hanging off its hinges, a cloud of dust surrounding it. A few moments later, the sound of footsteps approached.

Nerissa forced her eyes open, looking at the coming silhouette of a man through the fog in both the dust and her own concussion. There also seemed to be a loud beeping noise.

The man walked through the fog, followed by several others, holding some kind of control box in his hand. "Agent Sanchez," he muttered, looking disdainfully down at the fallen former Guardian.

Nerissa groaned, and looked for the Regents. Shagon and Kor were both lying down on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

"Nice to see you, I don't think," the man added, and then with one swift kick he landed his foot in her face, but not hard enough to knock her out. She hissed from the pain, but did not shy from it. On the contrary, the pain helped her to stay conscious, and she could not afford to sleep now.

"One of Hexin's pet dogs I assume," she mumbled back to him, her lip swollen.

The agent glared at her. "Better to be a dog that is loyal and with honour, than to be a ravenous wolf that dishonours itself by turning its back on the one it swore its life and service to!"

She spat at him. "Don't mistake honour with blind duty! Hexin knows nothing of Honour and cares nothing for it. That I can assure you! How did you find us, and what have you done to them?" She pointed to the fallen Regents.

He smiled. "As knowledgeable as you think you are, you do not know everything, my dear Miss Sanchez." He pointed around himself and then at the sleeping Lillian. "Do not forget that your little lady over there is the Heart of _Earth_. Not the Heart of Meridian. The magical aura that emits from her is, how you might say, pretty common back home. It is part of the Earth itself, so it was near impossible for us to locate her. But…"

He knelt down to her level. "…Now, she is here on Meridian, and the magic here is completely different to that of home. Like placing a drop of black oil in water, it doesn't blend in with the magic here, and is easily distinguishable. So when you came here with her, you may as well have written out a giant sign pointing us in her direction…thank you."

Nerissa spat at him again.

"As for the masked one and the overgrown weasel over there." He pointed at the Regents. "We already have one of their number back at base. Some feline with a taste for French names, apparently."

"Napoleon?"

"That's the one! The master was able to use the feline's life energy as a power source for these new weapons. Came in quite handy for knocking out these two helpers of yours."

She swore. Bloody cat!

The agent pulled his foot back for another kick, but she was ready for it this time.

"Quintessence!" she cried, mustering all her energy and striking out at the man. The energy flowed from her, and struck the man in the chest and…

Nothing?

He sneered at her. "We were ready for you this time, Agent Sanchez." He tapped his battle-armour. "Insulated armour, specially designed to counter your powers."

Nerissa's eyes widened. "Quintessence!" she repeated, but this time eyeing the weapons he and the other men were holding.

"The same goes for our weapons, too, traitor," he chuckled, and stepped around her, heading to the one place she had been trying to keep Hexin and his men away all along.

"NO!" she cried, forcing herself up and jumping at him, as he slowly approached Lillian. He easily sidestepped her, grabbing her by her long hair and knocking her face into the wall. She once more fell to the floor, spitting blood.

"I'm here to extend an invitation," the agent continued, speaking casually as he carried on beating her senseless.

[BAM!]

"If you want the girl to live…"

[SLAM!]

"Bring the Heart of Kandrakar…"

[POW!]

"To Hexin's mansion…"

[BAM!]

"He will be waiting for you there…"

[CRACK!] The cracking sound of Nerissa's bones sounded throughout the room, and Nerissa felt the last of her strength give way, and she slumped to the floor, this time unable to do anything except listen.

"And should you think about coming in force, then just a friendly word of warning…" he turned to give one final sneering look at her. "Hexin knows about you, your friends and all your powers. Don't think for one moment that he won't be ready for you when you arrive. You can fight all you like, but if you do then that will be all the sign my master needs to start the ritual, and…" He indicated the girl in his arms. "You can say goodbye to Sleeping Beauty here."

Nerissa stared with her one good eye in despair, as the agents calmly left the room, with Lillian with them.

"You have until 8PM tomorrow. I suggest you consider his offer carefully. Ta-ta!" He left with the others, chuckling softly, Lillian still sleeping soundly in his arms.

"No…" she whimpered, as the pain from her injuries sent her mind into oblivion, and she fell into blessed unconsciousness.

0000000000

After getting Elyon back to the Palace, where Caleb was now seeing to her safety, the Guardians returned to the battle, which was not going well.

Meridian's forces were loyal, strong and devoted to their queen, but alas mere swords and arrows were no match for guns and bombs. Their soldiers were soundly getting thrashed, and many were forced to retreat.

"Taranee, send a firestorm!" Will ordered.

Taranee hesitated, biting her lip in angst, but in the end she complied. "You got it," she said, raising her hands and summoning a rain of fireballs to rain down on Hexin's men. She winced, as the screams of the men echoed through the air. She didn't need to be a genius to know that some of those were the screams of men dying, but she also knew she had no choice. This was war, and the loss of life was inevitable. But that didn't mean she had to like it!

Even during the war with Phobos, Taranee had never had to kill anyone or anything. It was one of her most treasured virtues, one that she had now lost, thanks to Hexin, and she promised to pay him back for that, with interest!

Just then, the portal that had brought all of Hexin's army seemed to shimmer and glow brighter. A moment later, all of Hexin's goons started to retreat back to it.

"What's going on?" Hay Lyn asked.

"They're retreating!" Irma said excitedly.

"Yeah, but…" Will stared at the escaping soldiers worriedly. "…Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"When it concerns Hexin, yes!" Will replied, and began to fly after them.

"Will, what are you doing?!" Cornelia yelled.

"Hexin wouldn't leave like this unless he had something up his sleeve or…" Suddenly, she stopped where she was, hovering in midair. "…Or he had gotten what he wanted!" She turned back to Cornelia. "Corny, get back to Nerissa and Lillian! The rest of us will try and stop Hexin from leaving!"

Cornelia didn't need to be told twice, as she had never liked leaving her sister alone with Nerissa in the first place, and was glad for the chance to return. She turned and flew faster than a bat out of a cave.

"EVERYONE!" Will shouted out orders to the Meridian army. "Don't let the invaders escape! They must be caught!"

The soldiers were dedicated to obeying usually only their monarch, but the Guardians were known friends to Her Highness, and they had long helped their world in the past, so they complied.

"For Meridian!" one of the Sentry guards roared, brandishing his battle-axe and leading the troops after their attackers.

From beyond the battle-field, Hexin looked back at the roaring army that was now making its way to his forces, no doubt to try and prevent their escape. He merely arched an eyebrow at them.

"One good turn deserves another," he mused aloud, and reached into the pouch tied to his belt, and pulled out a handful of red dust. "Inferno!" he yelled, and threw the dust in front of him. It swished right out across the air, flying beyond most of his troops until it then began to settle in a fine line across the field. The second it did…

[WOOF!]

Flames sprang out from the dust that touched the ground, or whatever it touched down on. Some of the unfortunate warriors had gotten in the way of it when it had floated down, some of who were Meridian knights, and others that were of Hexin's own army.

Men's screams once more filled the air, and slowly died along with their owners, the stench of burning flesh floating on the winds.

"Those who aren't through the portal within the next minute get left behind," Hexin simply told his commander beside him, and walked through the portal.

The flames grew high and hot, so much that even the Guardians who were flying could not even pass through them.

"Irma!" Will called out.

"I know, I'm trying!" she shouted back, trying to summon all the water she could to extinguish the flames, but for some reason the fire just wouldn't quit.

"These must be magic flames!" Hay Lyn deduced. "I think it's going to take a lot more water than even we've got to put them out!"

"Try and get around them!" Will replied, flying higher to get over the flames, but every time she came even close, the flames shot up higher to block her path.

This went on for several minutes, all of Meridian's soldiers and the combined efforts of the Guardians fighting to put out the enchanted fire, but to no avail. Until finally…the flames simply puffed out, as though someone had just blown them out, like with a candle. And once everyone had recovered from the surprise, they soon noticed the reason why.

"Hexin's gone!" Will snarled.

"The magic that he used to create the fire must have only worked as long as he was close by," Taranee said, frowning.

"_TARANEE!" _Cornelia's mental voice screamed through Taranee's head, giving her a migraine. _"GET BACK TO NERISSA'S PLACE __**NOW**__!" _

"Guys!" the Fire Guardian moaned. "Corny says we have to get back to Nerissa and Lillian like yesterday!"

The girls didn't hesitate, and after ensuring that no one was in dire need of help or needed assistance, they immediately flew close together.

"Everyone hang on," Will said, wincing as she attempted to tele-transport back to the Infinite City.

A second later…

[FLASH!]

Will collapsed to the floor of Nerissa's hideaway, breathing heavily. No matter how many times she did it, she could never get used to tele-transportation.

"I need to practise," she muttered.

"Oh no!" Hay Lyn cried out, pointing across the room. The others followed the direction, and saw Cornelia kneeling by a smashed in wall with an unconscious Nerissa lying beaten and bloody on the floor.

Will squealed, as she saw Matt and Huggles also lying unconscious. She rushed over to her boyfriend, kneeling beside him and checking his vitals. Aside from some bruising, though, he seemed fine, as did Huggles.

Hay Lyn certainly had no love for Nerissa, but neither could she stand to see anyone hurt. And by the looks of her, Nerissa looked as if she had been beaten to hell and back.

"Is she alive?" Irma asked, hurrying over with the others.

"Yes, but Lillian's gone!" Cornelia replied frantically. "I got here and the whole place had been wrecked, Nerissa looked as if she'd been a contestant in Wrestlemania, and Lily gone!"

"Okay, okay!" Will tried to calm her friend hurriedly. "First things first." She knelt down beside Nerissa, checking her pulse and looking her over. "Irma, your mom's a nurse, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Irma replied hesitantly. "But I only know basic first aid. This looks beyond me."

"We'll have to get her back to the Palace then. The Castle Physicians and Healers can tend to her."

Hay Lyn winced. "Elyon isn't going to like that."

"Neither is the rest of Meridian," Taranee added. No one had forgotten Nerissa usurping their queen's power, or her attempt to take over their world and every other.

Needless to say, she was not well liked. It was doubtful anyone was going to be happy about her arrival.

"No choice," Will told them, and then moaned. "Time for another tele-transport."

0000000000

**3 Hours Later; Royal Palace: **

"What is she doing here?!"

No, Elyon was definitely _not_ happy. They had brought Nerissa to the Palace's Main Hall. Elyon had still been resting from whatever Hexin had done to her, so Caleb had been in temporarily command. He had told the guards to do whatever the Guardians told them, including helping his mother.

Caleb had made no mention about his feelings concerning his mother. He had merely watched from a distance, as Nerissa was carried to one of the adjoining rooms where the healers could do their work. A short time later, Julian had come in, having been sent for by his son. He was waiting in the room with Nerissa now, guarding her.

Elyon had awakened, and as long as she didn't use her powers she was fine. No one as yet knew anything about what Hexin had injected her with, and the Meridians knew absolutely nothing about technology so they were ill equipped to offer aid. The best anyone could figure out was to take Elyon to Kandrakar and see if the Council could assist, which the Guardians would do after they spoke to Nerissa.

"Elyon, we've been through this," Will told her, still groaning from the latest tele-transport. "None of us are happy with her being here, but Lillian is gone and she's the only one who might know where she is. Do you really want to risk Lily's life over an old grudge?"

Elyon hissed below her breath, but said nothing. In the end, all she did was give a wave of her hand and left the room, indicating them to do what they wanted.

"How is the patient?" Will then asked, as Julian came in from the other room.

"The Physicians and Healers are finished with her for now," he told them. "They say she'll make a full recovery, and you can talk to her, but they warn you not to be long. The beating she got left her severely weakened, so she needs to rest."

Will nodded, noticing the small look of relief in Julian's face. You didn't need to be a genius to know that he still harboured some feelings for her, confusing as their relationship had been. Imagine finding out the woman you had a child with and loved for years was never the woman you thought she was, but someone else altogether?!

Cornelia wasted no time, and pushed past them all, heading straight into the room. The others sighed, and hurried after her.

Most of them winced when they saw the former Guardian lying in the huge bed, her face and most of her body wrapped in bandages, a wooden splint used to set her arm, another for her leg, and multiple cuts and grazes on her that had been stitched and bathed in some ointment.

The only one who didn't seem too affected by Nerissa's condition was Cornelia, but that was because she was too worried about her sister to be worried about someone else. She looked as if she was about to start asking questions, but Will beat her to it, not wanting her to be too rash.

"Nerissa," she said gently. "Can you hear me?"

The dark-haired beauty slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Yes".

"What happened?"

She groaned again. "Hexin's…men…found us."

"Yeah, we figured," Irma muttered, but silenced at the hard look from Will. "What happened to Matt and Huggles?"

"Hexin created…some kind of new weapon…used Napoleon…to make them."

"Napoleon?!"

"Prisoner…Matt…he'll wake up…eventually."

"Where did they take Lillian?"

Nerissa gave another moan, though this one seemed more of emotional pain than physical.

"Nerissa!" Will placed both her hands carefully on either side of her one time enemy's head, looking straight into her eyes. "Lillian's not done for yet. Tell us where to find her and we can still save her."

"No…you can't…" Nerissa struggled to get up, only to groan painfully. Julian was soon at her side, helping her to sit up.

"Screw you!" Cornelia snapped. "We…"

"Cornelia!" Will snapped back, glaring at her. "I know you're worried, but this isn't the time!"

Not waiting for a response from her friend, Will turned back to the beaten sorceress. "Just tell us where they took her, if they did."

"Hexin knows…"

"Knows? Knows what?"

"He knows…you'll be coming…he sent a message…says…he expects you."

"Well, that's no surprise," Taranee commented. "Anyone would know we'd be coming for Lillian, and he knows we've got Nerissa here so…"

"Taranee!" Will moaned. "She says Hexin will be expecting us, which means he'll be bringing out the big guns for us."

"Big guns?" Julian asked blankly.

"She means that Hexin will have every weapon, every spell and every one of his warriors all ready for us when we come," Caleb answered for them.

"And we have yet to even defeat Hexin all by himself, let alone his army," Hay Lyn added dejectedly. "And this time we'll be fighting him in his own house, which means he'll have the high ground and everything."

"What else did he say?" Will interrupted, looking again at the down sorceress.

"If we want Lillian back alive…bring him…Heart of Kandrakar…by 8:00…tomorrow night."

"We can't give him the Heart!" Hay Lyn exclaimed worriedly.

"We won't," Will assured her. "Maybe we can trick him by…"

"Bring the Heart…" Nerissa continued. "If not…Lillian…dies!" She winced in pain. "Any sign of…resistance…or a trick…Hexin will kill her…sacrifice her for the ritual…then the Heart will be his."

"Why would he tell us to bring the Heart to him if he can just do this spell anyway?" Hay Lyn asked, confused.

"Maybe he has a conscience?" Taranee wondered aloud.

"No, that's the last thing he has," Will growled below her breath. "It's all about power!"

"Huh?" they all said.

"Hexin has one great weakness," Will told them. "His love for power! Whether it's the power of magic, or the power that he has over others, he wants it. He has Lillian and he knows we want to keep her from being harmed." She sighed. "He's just toying with us now. Plus, if we can bring him the Heart without him having to do the ritual, then that means he can have two Hearts for the price of one. Double the power!"

"But if we don't then Lillian will die and he'll get the Heart of Kandrakar anyway, and it's that Heart he wants more than anything!" Cornelia said frantically.

"I know," Will said lowly, looking lost.

"So…" Irma began slowly. "Hexin's got Lillian, he's at his place, which is bound to be packed with all his defences, from guards with high-tech weapons, to magic spells and protective charms, yadda yadda. And…what do we got?"

Everyone was silent.

To Be Continued… 


	9. Chapter 9

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Washington D.C.;**

**Hexin's Mansion:**

The girl lay fast asleep on the altar he had built years ago for this very purpose.

"You led me on a merry chase, my girl," Hexin said, smiling down on the sleeping child. "But good things come to those who wait."

The night of the convergence was at hand. The stars would align tomorrow, and then…

He looked down once more on the sleeping child, and gently stroked her face. "Such a pity," he said in a seemingly sad tone, but it was as fake as Phobos's sincerity.

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**Meridian: **

The Guardians were all in the Great Hall with Nerissa, standing or pacing the floor in silence. Elyon had by then left for Kandrakar, the injection that Hexin had given her having robbed her of her powers, so she had gone to the Oracle to see if he could help.

Taranee suggested going there with Elyon to ask his advice, but Nerissa refused, believing that all he would do would be to tell them to forget Lillian, to focus on the _greater good_ and not let Hexin acquire the Heart. Most of the girls didn't think for one second he would, except perhaps for Cornelia, but then that was most likely because she was anxious and worried about her sister. Either way, none of them were eager to leave Nerissa on her own in Meridian.

Caleb, too, looked like he was in a state. He had only found out a short time ago that Cornelia's sister was his as well, yet before that he had always carried a burden of worry for her. Granted, he never knew she was a relative of his, but only because she was his girlfriend's sibling, and that he had been raised to always watch over the innocent.

Nerissa and the Regents, Matt and Huggles, had been seen to by the castle's Healers, and had used certain potions and healing spells that Nerissa had told them to get from her former home in the Infinite City. Matt and Huggles were still unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Nerissa was now more or less healed, but definitely not at ease.

"This is all your fault!" she screamed at them. "If you had never defied me at the start, or at least let me take Lillian's power when they first manifested, she would be safe and sound!"

"Oh yeah, like we'd trust that power with you!" Cornelia shot back.

"QUIET!" Caleb's voice roared. "We don't have time for all that again! We need a plan and to talk strategy, so talk now and scream later!" He eyed each of them dangerously, silencing them.

"Nerissa, you know where Hexin's place is, don't you?" Will asked.

"Of course, but it's built like a fortress! We'd never be able to get in and safely save Lillian and get her out of there!"

"You got out once," Hay Lyn reminded her.

"Only under certain circumstances, by the skin of my teeth, and with pure luck," Nerissa said, looking downcast. "No way I could ever be that lucky again."

"So what do we do?" Cornelia almost wailed. "Like she says, Hexin no doubt has his place built up like Fort Knox. If we do nothing, Lillian is dead, and if we give him the Heart…"

"You'll be condemning the whole universe to darkness!" Nerissa added. "Hexin is powerful enough now, but with his Heart he would be unstoppable."

"But if we don't then Lillian will die for this spell of his, and then he'll get the Heart anyway," Irma pointed out. "Either way, it looks like we're pretty much screwed."

"You got that right," Taranee muttered.

"So what can we do?!" Cornelia demanded, ignoring Caleb's feeble attempts to comfort her.

They all looked at each other.

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**Hexin's Mansion; Next Night: **

Hexin sat in his study, gently stroking the fine wood of his expensive table while looking out his window at the stars. A few moments later, a knock sounded at the door.

"Enter!" he ordered.

"My Lord," one of his guards greeted him upon entering, and then added simply, "it's time."

Hexin nodded, and got up. "Have the necessary security measures been taken?"

"Yes, sir, but…you don't seriously believe those girls would be so foolish as to attack here, do you?"

He chuckled. "While their little friend is here in my company? Oh, I'd stack my immortality on it. Be sure to inform me once they arrive."

"Yes, sir." The guard bowed before him, as he passed, keeping his head low.

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Meanwhile, From Outside:

"Quit shoving, will you?!" Irma hissed at Cornelia, as she struggled to keep a look out of the bush they were in. But having to share her hiding place with another girl was proving it somewhat difficult.

"Well, you're taking up all the room!" Cornelia hissed back.

_Guys, chill, okay!_ Taranee's mental voice silenced them. _We can't afford making nay mistakes tonight. _

Taranee had bonded all of their minds together, so they could keep in contact, as they silently converged on the mansion. Her own thoughts were on edge, as she swore she could feel eyes watching her everywhere, which if Nerissa were to be believed, could be true.

Their team compressed of all the Guardians, including Nerissa, Caleb, Matt and Huggles. Elyon had offered to send some of her army with them when they confronted Hexin. In fact, she had almost insisted on it, considering what he had done to her and her kingdom, but the Guardians had convinced her otherwise.

It wasn't that they hadn't wanted the extra help. Nerissa had actually been all for it. But the kind of mission they were on now required stealth, and the smaller the group the better the chance they had of making it. Not that Nerissa had a lot of faith they would though.

Matt and Huggles were still a little weak from Hexin's attack, but Meridian's Healers and Lillian's magic had almost completely healed them, and as her Regents there was no way they were going to leave her to Hexin's mercy, no more than Cornelia was willing to do so.

_I see four guards out on the balcony._ Hay Lyn reported, sounding more anxious than usual.

_Hmm, I was expecting more._ Will wondered.

_Don't think there won't be._ Nerissa broke into the conversation. _Hexin won't be too bothered with what happens to his house outside. It's inside that will have the most security, as they won't allow anyone in to interfere with the ceremony._

_Thanks for the vote of confidence._ Matt said wearily.

_Guys, enough!_ Will added. _Hay Lyn, take those four guys out._

_Consider it done._ Hay Lyn's invisible form passed by them all, the only hint being a slight rustle of the bush's leaves. A few moments, the sounds of men either being knocked out, or having the air momentarily sucked out of their lungs, were heard.

_Okay, guys!_ Hay Lyn reported. _Clear! _

"We should have left the Heart of Kandrakar behind," Nerissa spoke out loud, infuriated. "We're supposed to be keeping it…"

"If Hexin does this spell with Lillian then it won't matter where the Heart is!" Will snapped. "He'll get it anyway, and at least this way we'll be able to barter with him and save Lillian's life."

"At the cost of everyone else's lives!" Nerissa snapped back.

"I can't believe you," Cornelia hissed at her, earning a hot glare from the black-haired sorceress. "You claim to be Lillian's birth mother, yet you're willing to let her die, just as you were willing to let Caleb do, too. What kind of woman are you?!"

Nerissa stared hard at her with a steel gaze. "I do what is necessary," she said quietly. "I assure you, I don't do it with a clear conscience. And if you think for one moment that I don't regret everything that has happened to either of my children because of my decisions in life, then believe me you are wrong. I lay awake at night, every night, wondering if I made a mistake, if I could have done something different, if…"

"Guys!" Will interrupted. "Sorry, but this isn't the time for group therapy. Talk about this later."

Neither Nerissa nor Cornelia said anything, as they just gave each other one final hard look, and then went back to the job at hand.

0000000000

Seven men, dressed in ancient Chinese robes, sat in a circle around the altar, chanting in a language that pre-dated the country whose clothes they were wearing. On the altar, Lillian Hale lay fast asleep with a red cushion beneath her head, blissfully unaware of all that was transpiring around her.

"The stars are in alignment!" Hexin declared, also dressed in a robe of Chinese red and black silk. "The chants are spoken, and the sacrifice is waiting! Tonight, my aeons of patience are finally paying off! Tonight, the spell will be spoken, and my Heart shall be returned!"

Cheers of applause rang around the hall they were in, as his followers sang his praise. The only one not singing was Napoleon, as he sat in a huge cage, hanging suspended from the ceiling. He eyed Hexin dangerously, and Lillian worriedly. He had tried breaking out of the cage, but it was apparently magic-proof, as nothing he did had any effect on it.

Hexin snapped his fingers, and a man in a blue robe walked forward, holding a small chest, carrying it as though in a state of worship, holding it in front, as he bowed before his master and lifted it up to him.

Hexin opened the box, and retrieved from within it a dagger with a silver blade, and a golden handle that had a dragon curved around it, which continued to curve around the blade up to the top.

"In the name of Yu, my father, and the sacred ancestors of Kandrakar, and by the power of the four dragons who serve me and mine…Let the…!"

[BOOM!]

He gave a small, thin smile. "It would appear my guests have arrived," he muttered quietly, but did not stop the ceremony.

0000000000

"Does the word _stealth_ mean _anything_ to you?!" Will snapped.

"Hey, how was I to know that pipe would burst?!" Irma retorted.

"Can it, will you?!" Nerissa hissed. "With or without it, I seriously doubt we would have got in here without Hexin finding out. At least this way we can dispense with the stealth act and not hold back."

Everyone agreed on that.

"Which way now?" Hay Lyn asked.

"I can't say for sure where Hexin would do this ceremony of his, but his secret rooms were this way. They'll be the best bet where he would hold it."

The group followed the former Guardian for a ways down on the long corridors, until they came upon two huge double-doors, engraved with ancient Chinese-looking symbols, and what looked like four large dragons.

"This is the entrance to…" Nerissa started to say, but was halted when the doors burst open, and half a dozen armed guards came rushing out.

"Never mind!" she shouted, and immediately summoned her power, the rest of them doing the same.

The battle didn't last long, as Nerissa used her Quintessence to deflect the bullets and laser, while Hay Lyn used her wind to blow the men off their feet. The sound of chanting soon reached their ears, and each of them instantly recognised the voice that was speaking.

"Hurry!" Nerissa cried out, as they all raced inside…only to find themselves waiting to be greeted.

"Ohhh rats," Irma moaned, as what looked like a hundred robed priests stood before them, each of them armed to the teeth.

Nerissa and Will used their Quintessence, and Cornelia her telekinesis, to deflect the guards' weapons, Taranee summoned up a wall of fire to hold them back while they regrouped, and Hay Lyn blew another gust of hurricane wind to knock the guards down flat.

Irma used what water she could find in the room, but there wasn't a lot, save for some bowls of liquid scattered around, the scent indicating it was some sort of oil.

Caleb raised his sword, screaming his battle-cry and rushing headfirst into a large group of robed warriors, slashing and punching. Matt and Huggles, aka Shagon and Kor, used both their physical and magical abilities to fight.

All while this was going on, Hexin's voice never wavered or halted.

The room they were all in was huge, like a Great Hall, with dark-brown polished wood and gold highlights, again with Chinese-like symbols and engravings everywhere. The room was so large that they could hear echoes. In the centre, there was a stone construct, like a miniature temple, which was acting as an altar. It reached halfway up to the ceiling, with two huge balls of fire that shone brightly at either side, and in the middle at the top, there was Hexin.

He stood before a stone table, chanting, and on the table lay Lillian.

"Lily!" Cornelia screamed, catching sight of her sister's body on the altar. She quickly mind-blasted a group of Hexin's followers, and flew like she had never flown before.

She wasn't the only one, as Nerissa was soon behind her.

"Let the stars and their infinite knowledge come together, and the magic of the planets grant me their understanding!" Hexin prayed aloud. "From the ends of the universe, grant me the power!"

"HEXIN!" a known voice screamed.

"Hello, Nerissa," he replied casually. "Wonderful to see you again."

A crash of lightning came striking towards him, but bounced harmlessly off him.

"Some people just can't take a compliment," he mused.

"Leave it to a pro, why don't ya!" the fair-haired Cornelia yelled at Nerissa.

This time, Hexin did take notice. He may have been immune to the two Quintessence Guardians, as it was his own power, but the rest of them were another story. He whirled around, grabbing an amulet around his neck.

"Luminos!" he yelled, and a blast of light shot out of the amulet, hurtling towards the two girls. They only just barely managed to fly out of the way, as the light struck the ceiling above where they had been hovering, blasting away chunks of wood and brick that fell to the floor.

Cornelia retaliated, using her telekinesis to lift one of the huge bowls of fire from the side, and flinging it on top of him. But Hexin was quick, as he leaped out of the way, and using his amulet again, blasted the bowl. It exploded, sending balls of fire flying everywhere. Pretty soon, fire was raging on the wooden floor below.

Meanwhile, Matt and Huggles flew up to the cage where Napoleon was being held. They tried to bend the bars with both their strength and magic, but their abilities proved just as useless against the cage's anti-magic defences, just as Napoleon's had.

"Guys, get me outta here, will ya?!" Napoleon snarled, wanting to get out and give Hexin some much serious payback.

"You got an idea, I'd love to hear it!" Matt snapped, pulling at the bars to no avail…and then paused.

"What, you got an idea?"

"Yeah, but…it's nothing you're gonna like."

"What do you me…HEY!"

Matt hovered higher, and with a blast of his own power, struck the cord that was holding the cage afloat. Luckily, it was not magic proof like the rest of the cage. "Hang on, Nap!" he shouted.

"TO WHAAAAAAAAAA…!" Napoleon's voice screamed, as the cage plummeted to the ground, landing with a huge crash and shattering upon impact. A few moments later, a shaking Napoleon slowly climbed out of his destroyed prison.

"You okay, Nap?!" Matt called down.

The Regent cat just looked up at him. "DO I FRIGGIN WELL _LOOK_ OKAY?!"

More of Hexin's followers ran up to attack, but Irma and Hay Lyn were ready. Irma sent a wave of water, drawn from the house's plumbing, crashing into them, followed by a gust of arctic cold air from Hay Lyn, freezing them on the spot.

Eight robed men trapped in ice soon stood before them.

"Taranee, deal with the fire!" Hay Lyn called out, noticing the flames that were spreading far, wide and unbelievably hot.

"Already on it! Irma!" Taranee called to the water Guardian. Together they were able to despatch the flames, with Taranee keeping them under control until Irma was able to douse them with water.

Cornelia and Nerissa continued to fight with Hexin, as they flew in circles over him, hurtling one telekinetic and energy blast after another at him. Hexin merely cast their efforts aside, smirking at their pitiful efforts.

"Is this all you can do against me?" he asked casually. "I must say I'm disappointed, Nerissa. There was a time when you would have had a more planned attack. Not to mention a lot more tricks up your sleeve. I guess, despite your youthful looks, the years have not…" He stopped.

Something had just occurred to him. This attack of theirs really was pathetic, far more than he would ever believe Nerissa to be capable of. He had trained her himself in a number of military strategies, and this was far below her average level. All this could only mean one thing… Diversion!

He twirled around, and found the current Quintessence Guardian right behind him, and holding his little Heart of Earth.

A loud battle-cry sounded behind him, and Nerissa slammed herself into him, tackling him to the floor. "Will, get Lillian out of here!" she screamed. "Fold, now!"

"Fold open!" Will recited, holding the Heart of Kandrakar before her.

"How?!" Hexin demanded, pushing Nerissa off him. He should have been able to sense his Heart from anywhere.

"Power dampener," she hissed in his ear. "Turns out the Oracle at Kandrakar has his own share of trinkets and talismans he's collected over the centuries, including a special little thing called the Veil of Jsd."

Hexin noticed a small cloth that looked as if it had been recently wrapped around his Heart.

"That's only a piece of it, of course. We only needed enough to hide the Heart from you while we were here. And if you're wondering why you've never heard of it. That's because it doesn't come from Earth, and it was created long after you first arrived here."

Hexin thinned his eyes at her. "Clever," he said simply, and then kneed her in her stomach and flipped her over his shoulder.

"NO!" Cornelia yelled, and dove after him, but he was too quick.

Just as the Fold opened, and Will carried Lillian with her through it, Hexin leaped in after them, Cornelia right behind him. Before Nerissa could regain her breath, though, the Fold had already closed.

Cornelia gave a scream of frustration, for the Fold had closed just as she had reached it.

Nerissa cursed. "Everyone!" she screamed, grabbing the Mage Ring that she had reacquired from Meridian. Elyon had only given it back out of necessity, to do anything to defeat Hexin. "We need to get back to Kandrakar, NOW!"

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**Kandrakar: **

The council all stood respectfully, awaiting word from the Guardians. They had been waiting now for the better part of a few hours, but they knew that such battles sometimes took days.

Elyon had already left. The Council had determined that whatever Hexin had injected her with, had been specifically designed to temporary remove her of her powers. They sensed no mystical energy within it, so they deduced that it had to be human technology, but beyond that they knew nothing else, as they weren't scientists. Elyon had started to slowly get her powers back just shortly after she had arrived in Kandrakar, and the Oracle foresaw that she should get them completely back within the next day or two, but it would be a good idea if she didn't try anything magical for at least three days, just to be sure.

As they continued to wait, a Fold suddenly opened right before them, depositing three individuals.

"Guardian Will?" the Oracle hurried over to the redheaded human, who was holding the young Heart of Earth. "What has…?" He stopped, as he noticed the third newcomer before them.

The Asian man stood up and spared him a glance. "The Oracle I presume?" he said, sneering at him.

Before the Oracle could reply, Hexin rushed forward, grabbing Will by her hair and slamming her head onto the floor, knocking her unconscious.

"Seize him!" the Oracle yelled, summoning his magic to create a binding veil over the intruder.

Hexin heard him, and then threw off the black and red robe he was wearing, revealing a sleek and black modern battle-armour. He grabbed one of the small hand-grenades on his belt, pulling the clip from it and hurling it at the bald Seer.

"Down!" the Oracle cried out, using the veil he intended for Hexin on the grenade instead, containing the blast within. But by the time he turned his sights back to the former Prince of Kandrakar…

Hexin smiled at him, standing over the fallen Will, with the Heart of Kandrakar in his hand.

"Game over," he said simply, and ripped his armour shirt off, revealing the open hole in his chest, and placing the Heart inside.

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**One Minute Later: **

Returning to Kandrakar had been a lot easier to say than do. Hexin's followers had made sure of that. They seemed to do everything in their power to delay them, but fortunately that task was pointless against several able warriors and powerful Regents, sorceresses and Guardians. They had soon overpowered the priests and guards, and were now on their way.

Napoleon grunted, as he struggled to stay conscious, with Kor and Shagon helping him. He hadn't told them what Hexin had had done to him, but whatever it was, it had certainly left him drained. He wasn't too weak, though, to refrain from giving Nerissa curious and suspicious glares.

Caleb had wanted to stay and continue fighting, most likely out of a need for vengeance for Elyon, who Hexin and his followers had hurt. But even he had seen the necessity to leave quickly.

"Hurry!" Nerissa urged them, as she opened the Fold and hurried through. "We can't waste any…"

Her words faded, as she passed through the portal, but the others were soon on her tail.

"Tell me again why _she_ is on our side?" Napoleon said, groaning.

"Long story," Shagon told him. "Just know that, for now at least, we have the same agenda. But don't worry…none of us trust her any further than we can throw her…assuming none of us had super strength or powers, of course, that is."

Napoleon grumbled, but followed them through the portal…and stopped.

They were soon in the great hall of Kandrakar, with Nerissa standing directly in front of them, looking ahead with her eyes wide and fearful. They followed her gaze, and soon learned the reason.

"_**How good of you to show up,"**_ Hexin's voice sounded, as though it were coming from all around them.

Hexin stood straight and tall, floating in a brilliant display of lightning that sparked and flashed across the room in a way that not even Nerissa with all her years of experience had ever done. The tendrils of lightning stretched throughout the room, lighting up the whole fortress, followed by the crashing sound of thunder that left their eardrums feeling like they were being used as bongo drums.

In the centre of it all, Hexin seemed to be floating in a sea of colours. And around him, there floated Will, Lillian, and the rest of the Council, suspended in air, trapped in prisons that looked to be made out of lightning.

"_**I was waiting for you,"**_ he added, and then with a sudden wave of his hand, the colours seemed to be drawn straight into him, ending with a clashing sound, louder than a hundred cymbals.

'The Aurameres,' Nerissa thought with dread, and before her eyes she watched as a single flash sparked before her, and all the Guardians suddenly fell to the floor in their ordinary human clothes, powerless.

"_**Now the fun can really begin!"**_ Hexin laughed, raising his arms above him, sending another wave of lightning and thunder, flashing and echoing across the realm. And despite all the distractions, Nerissa noticed that his chest, which had once boasted an empty hole where his heart should have been, was now whole, without even a scar.

"_**Let the reign of Emperor Xin Hei-an begin!" **_

To Be Continued… 


	10. Chapter 10

_**W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun. **_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!**_

_**Set shortly after the end of Season 2. **_

0000000000

**Kandrakar; One Minute Earlier:**

"Game over," Hexin said simply, and ripped his armour shirt off, revealing the open hole in his chest. He ripped the cord and little metal that was attached to the precious jewel, and placed it inside him.

The Heart of Kandrakar glowed brightly for one second, and then seemed to grow and overflow, filling the inside of his chest like water to a cup. The light then faded away instantly, and the once gaping hole inside Hexin's chest was no more.

Hexin dropped to the floor for a moment, like he was in agony. The truth was, after spending so many centuries without having a beating heart inside of him, it was a little disconcerting having it come back to him all at once.

He knelt, breathing heavily on the floor for a few seconds, and then…

[CRASH!]

The sound of flashing lightning and booming thunder echoed all around the fortress, and Hexin's whole body began to glow.

"_**That's better!"**_ his voice spoke, gaining in volume and sounding like it were speaking from all directions at once.

The Oracle looked in horror at him. "Council!" he called to the rest of them. "We need to create a veil, now!"

The four members of the Kandrakar council, including the Oracle and Halinor, all summoned their mystic energy, preparing to create a veil to contain the intruder, like Nerissa had once done with them. But they didn't even come close to fully calling upon their powers, when Hexin shot them a mere look, and a psychic wave of some sort crashed into them, sending them bouncing across the floor.

"_**Mind your manners!"**_ he said simply, and then looked ahead. _**"Kandrakar, awaken! Your rightful ruler has returned from his aeons long absence!" **_

The entire endless sky exploded into one giant storm, as the once peaceful and clear skies turned dark and stormy.

Will moaned, as she slowly came to.

"_Will!"_ Halinor's frantic voice called into her mind. _"You must rouse yourself! Kandrakar is in danger!" _

She mentally shook her herself, and blinked her eyes to focus on the floating energy-factory above her.

"_**After all these centuries, at long last!"**_ Hexin laughed gleefully. _**"My heart returned! My powers returned! And Kandrakar, now and forever, mine!"**_

"No way Jose!" she yelled, and shot her own energy-bolt, forgetting for a moment that her power was useless against him.

He laughed at her. _**"Not a fast learner, are you?"**_ he said, smirking. _**"Aurameres, to me!" **_

A few seconds later, the Aurameres flew right past them, their mystic power glowing brighter than ever, as they hovered up, floating in a circle around him.

"_**I am**_ _**Xin Hei-an, once and future ruler of Kandrakar! Thus all magic in my world rightfully belongs to me!" **_

"No!" Will barely made out the horrified cry of Luba, the Aurameres' keeper.

Before any of them could say anything more, Hexin raised his hand towards them, and what felt like several thousand volts of electricity were run through them. They screamed, as the energy coursed through their bodies, and they were lifted effortlessly into the air. The only one unaffected was Lillian, as she still lay unconscious on the floor.

Not long after, a Fold opened, indicating the rest of the Guardians and the others arrival.

"_**Ah, perfect timing!"**_ Hexin said, seemingly with approval.

Nerissa was the first one to come through the Fold, only to stop, staring in horror at the newly resurrected Kandrakar emperor.

"_**How good of you to show up!"**_ Xin Hei-an said cruelly.

"Xin Hei-an," Nerissa whispered hopelessly. With his full power now restored, any aliases he may have once gone by were no longer necessary, so there was no point in calling him Hexin anymore.

"_**I was waiting for you,"**_ he added, and then with a sudden wave of his hand, the colours seemed to be drawn straight into him, ending with a clashing sound, louder than a hundred Cymbals.

"_**Now the fun can really begin!"**_ Hexin laughed, raising his arms above him, sending another wave of lightning and thunder, flashing and echoing across the realm. And through it all, Nerissa noticed that his chest, which had once boasted an empty hole where his heart should have been, was now whole, without even a scar.

"_**Let the reign of Emperor Xin Hei-an begin!"**_

"Distract him!" Caleb cried out, running ahead with his sword drawn. He barely made it a few steps before Xin Hei-an raised his hand, and sent him soaring backwards, Caleb in one direction and his sword in another, through the air and slamming into the wall.

"Caleb!" Cornelia yelled, and glared at the dark emperor. "You sooo didn't want to do that!" She raised her own hands, calling on her telekinesis to fight back.

Xin Hei-an chuckled. _**"You really think your puny magics are now any match for me and mine?"**_ he said casually, and flicked his finger at her.

Cornelia yelped, as she followed in Caleb's wake, slamming into the wall with a resounding crack.

"Hit him with everything you got!" Taranee cried out, flying forward with her hands sheathed in fire. Irma and Hay Lyn followed her, and soon a combination of waves, hurricanes and fireballs were hurtling towards Kandrakar's Dark Heart. Lillian's Regents were quick to follow, as sent wave after wave of energy-shots at him, with Shagon flying overhead, ready to attack with his bare fists if need be.

Xin Hei-an easily deflected all of their blows, almost laughing at their expense. _**"What point is there in this?"**_ he asked almost seriously. _**"Do you really think you can defeat me now with my full power restored?" **_

"We'd die trying!" Taranee called out.

"_**And you will."**_ His eyes narrowed at her. _**"But for now, I think…"**_ He waved his hand once more at them, and it was as though the whole fortress came alive at his will.

The rock that the fortress was constructed from seemed to come to life, as it rose up like a snake, wrapping itself around each of them and pulling them down until they sank into the floor, like quicksand, leaving only their heads above the surface.

"Hey! None of us or Elyon ever made buildings come to life!" Irma shouted.

"_**Buildings are made of rock and stone, remember? And where do they come from, but the earth!"**_ Xin Hei-an blasted the Regents with an energy-shot from his eyes, and they fell down to the ground out cold. _**"And now, to take all that is mine." **_

He brought both of his hands to his chest, and waved them towards himself, like he was telling someone to come to him. A second later, the Aurameres shot forward, hitting him square in the chest and making his body emit a surge of bright light.

"The Four Dragons may be gone, but their power still exists. And any magic that was born in Kandrakar, belongs to Kandrakar and its ruler!"

The Guardians yelled, as they felt their powers vanish in one split second, and their Guardian clothes, although they couldn't see them, disappeared, leaving them in their normal clothes. The only one who remained unaffected in all this was Nerissa, as her powers were fuelled by another source, and thus were no longer part of Kandrakar.

She still stood where she had been the moment she had returned to Kandrakar, staring up at Xin Hei-an; her eyes seemingly lost and devoid of all hope.

"_**Nothing to say, traitor?"**_ he asked her mockingly. _**"I warned you what would happen all those years ago. This was always meant to be, and I would have given you all that I promised and more! You only had to remain loyal. And now, look at you!"**_

Nerissa closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again. "We all made our choices, Hexin," she said, calling him by his former alias. "Maybe I would have chosen differently if I knew then what I know now, but…what's done is done." Her face then took on a dark grimace, as she glared fiercely at him. "And even if I have to die here and now, I swear I'll at least try and take you with me!"

Xin Hei-an managed a blink of surprise, as she used her own energy powers, creating a blast of pure light, blinding him temporarily. He shielded his eyes for a moment, blinking them furiously, regaining his sight just in time to see Nerissa racing forward with Caleb's sword in her hand.

He snapped to the side in a split second, dodging her strike. _**"You never give up, I got to hand it to you."**_ He smirked_**. "I could kill you right now with barely a gesture, but… Well, consider this my farewell gift to you."**_ He clapped his hands together, and a sparkle of electricity emitted, merging together to form a single large sword, made entirely of energy. _**"Our last duel together!"**_

He swung his sword at her, the impact when she parried sending sparks of energy flying everywhere. Nerissa wasn't trained in martial arts, and the only fencing she knew she had learned watching soldiers on Meridian. Her only advantage was that she was accustomed to fighting in the air, while Xin Hei-an had only just regained his powers, so if he ever had fought in the air then he hadn't done so in many centuries.

She whizzed past him, swinging her sword at his head, only for him to deflect it, flipping over and kicking her with his feet as he did. She flew back a few feet, but recovered just in time, as he made another dash at her. She blocked his blow with her sword, and tried blinding him again, but this time he was prepared, shocking her with a blast of his own electricity before she could make the attempt.

Wincing, she cradled her hand, where he had zapped her, and then did a back flip, soaring through the air, as he chased after her. They left trails of energy across the sky.

Nerissa made her way back into the fortress, looking for something/anything that she could use to help her, but there was little left. Xin Hei-an had taken the Aurameres, so he had their power added to his own, leaving the Guardians powerless. The Regents and the council were restrained, and Caleb was knocked out.

"If I could just…" she started to say.

[ZAP!]

She screamed, as Xin Hei-an's magic struck her shoulder. That left one of her arms useless, and Xin Hei-an soon bearing down on her, his face showing nothing but smug victory.

How she wanted to drive her sword down his throat or slice his head off!

Her injured arm and the sword made it difficult for her to stay in the air, so she was left with little choice but to take the battle back to the ground. She landed painfully, gripping the sword, wanting desperately to cradle her injured shoulder, but unable to.

Xin Hei-an laughed, as he came at her. His sword clashed with hers, and it was only through her sheer force of will that she was able to hold onto it, but even that was not enough for her to hold on indefinitely.

He struck her sword hard a couple of more times, and then…

[SLASH!]

Time seemed to slow down, as Nerissa stood frozen where she was, her son's sword still in her hand…and Xin Hei-an's blade embedded in her abdomen.

"Our last duel," he said smugly, looking deep into her eyes. "How sweet."

With that, he dissipated the energy-sword, and watched her as she fell soundlessly to the floor, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

"MOM!"

Nerissa couldn't see him, but knew that the one screaming had to be Caleb. He must have recovered consciousness just in time to see her defeat. How embarrassing, she thought.

It was the first time she had ever heard him call her mom without any kind of bitterness or shame in his voice, she realised. She wished she could see him, but she lacked the strength to even turn her head.

She recalled reading somewhere that getting stabbed through the stomach is the most painful…and it was true.

'I'm sorry…' she thought, not being able to even whisper. 'I wanted so desperately to stop him. I wish I could have…I'm sorry, Caleb. I'm sorry, Lillian, my precious flower…I'm sorry…I'm…'

She kept apologising to her son and daughter in her mind, not even noticing what Xin Hei-an was doing anymore.

0000000000

Xin Hei-an stepped idly around Nerissa's dying form. _**"A noble opponent to the end,"**_ he remarked, and looked over to where Caleb was struggling to get to his feet. His impact with the wall must have left him with some broken bones, as his one arm dangled uselessly to the side.

"_**You should feel pride at your mother's defeat,"**_ he remarked. _**"A worthy foe she was, and to be defeated by none other than the ruler of Kandrakar himself." **_

Caleb glared at him viciously, and tried to walk over to his sword that now lay on the floor near his dying mother, the pain from his broken bones making it increasingly hard to do so.

"_**A noble effort,"**_ Xin Hei-an remarked, followed by another flash of lightning that struck Caleb, sending him hurtling back into the wall. _**"But ultimately futile." **_

During the duel, while his attention had been wavered, the rest of the Guardians had all rose from the floor, thanks to the Oracle who had used his magic to free them. Unfortunately, they were all still powerless, and were trying to think up some way to attack, but Xin Hei-an didn't give them the chance. He raised his hand, and the girls instantly felt themselves get pushed to the floor again by some unseen force, unable to move.

"_**The war is over!"**_ he announced. _**"My Heart is reclaimed, my power restored! And now, Kandrakar is mine, now and forever!"**_

All around them, the endless sky of Infinity started to roar, as the once summer-blue sky and peaceful clouds turned dark. A storm arose, lightning crashing everywhere, and thunder nearly deafening everyone.

"You'll be stopped…" Will said, almost desperately, as though her heart were not in it. "Other worlds were…"

Xin Hei-an laughed. _**"Do you even now not yet understand the full implications of what has transpired this day, young former Guardian?! The Heart of Kandrakar is not just the magical source of a single world, like your friend Elyon or the young Miss Lillian over there. It is…"**_ He paused for a moment, as though contemplating his next words. _**"Think of it as more like…the source for the whole universe!" **_

The storm grew stronger, and Xin Hei-an's body seemed to grow in size and brightness, as the light around him intensified.

"Once, Kandrakar was a world like any other, but now with its destruction…this seemingly insignificant vacuum of endless space, is now a direct link to all the other worlds in creation! Their powers linked to my own! All MINE!"

Xin Hei-an pulsed and sparkled, the energy pouring out of him like a waterfall of lightning.

"When my sister merged her own life force with my Heart, she unknowingly but willingly offered me her own power! So now I control both sides of Quintessence, the light and the dark! Life and death are mine to command wherever they exist, and they exist EVERYWHERE!"

He rose into the air, his power growing with every passing second, as the girls and Council all stared in horror.

"Will, what can we do?!" Hay Lyn wailed.

But for the first time in her life since becoming a Guardian, Will had nothing to offer.

0000000000

Nerissa felt her own life seeping away, as she lay on the floor, bleeding to death. She kept her eyes centred on Xin Hei-an, at the brilliant display of lightning that shone all around him. It was almost comforting in a way. She could no longer hear anything else in the fortress, as though someone had hit the mute button on the TV.

'Goodbye, my children,' she whispered at the back of her mind. 'I'm sorry I…'

"_If you wish to give up, that is your choice,"_ a voice that was definitely not her own suddenly spoke up.

She looked up, forcing her head up to see a woman standing before her. All around her, she could see Xin Hei-an as the lightning and thunder grew around him, shaking the fortress to the core. Yet, to her, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The woman seemed to be the only thing moving at normal speed.

She was a young Asian woman, rather small, about 5ft, dressed in a pink silk dress, short dark hair and sorrowful eyes. She didn't walk toward her, but stayed where she was, just staring at Nerissa with those sad eyes of hers. There also seemed to be an air of tranquillity about her, but Nerissa couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The woman looked at her for a moment before answering. _"Xin Jing,"_ she replied.

Nerissa frowned. "That's impossible."

"_Why do you doubt me?" _

"Xin Jing has been…" She was about to say dead, but as she thought about it, who was she, or anyone else for that matter, to say that the mythical princess was deceased, when her brother still lived? Especially when she was meant to be the essence of life itself.

"_You know the answer to that already,"_ Xin Jing added, as though reading her thoughts.

"Why have you come?"

"My brother seeks to tip the scales and corrupt the balance of nature. If allowed, he will reap untold destruction upon countless worlds. Those who survive will endure endless misery and despair."

"So why didn't you stop him before?!" she snapped, referring to the legend of the sibling's last confrontation.

"I can no more kill my brother than he can kill me. He is the essence of death and destruction, while I am that of life and creation. We are Yin and Yang, two exact opposite forces, but are really two halves of one whole. Without the other, neither can exist."

"Then what good are you if you can't defeat him?!"

"_I didn't say I had come to defeat him,"_ she said patiently. _"I have come to correct the balance." _

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not in the way you are thinking. Destroying my brother would have the same effect as what he is doing now. It would destroy the balance."

"Then what are you here for?!"

"As I said…to correct the balance. But to do that, I need your assistance."

"What can I do?"

"Aeons ago, I shed my mortal body and ascended to a higher plane of existence. To face my brother now, I require a vessel to house me."

"You want to possess me?"

"Not exactly. More like share."

"And if I refuse?"

"It is your decision to make, but be warned…without you to carry me, I cannot face my brother, and he will be free to reap his darkness on the universe."

Nerissa frowned. "Why me? Why not the other girl, Will?"

"Her link to the Heart has been severed, and with it all of her Guardian magic has been stripped, and I can only share the vessel of one who has powers similar to mine. Since your Guardian powers come not from the Heart, they are unaffected, hence you are the only available source."

"But I am injured…"

"My power will heal you, but know this…if you chose to bond with me, the joining maybe hard to break. We could be joined forever, and when I leave, you might have to come with me."

"Go with you where?"

"To a place beyond your understanding. I would offer you more time, but that is, alas, the one thing we do not have. I need your decision, Nerissa, former Guardian and vessel of my power. Will you bond with me?"

Nerissa wanted to refuse. How could anyone ask someone to hand over their body to someone else? But, as she watched, she saw Xin Hei-an as he blasted his lightning at Caleb who valiantly tried to rise to his feet again, narrowly missing Lillian, while everyone struggled futilely against their bonds.

Nerissa closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

0000000000

Xin Hei-an tossed Caleb aside, chuckling as the young rebel hit the wall with a resounding crack, this time leaving a pattern of blood behind. Everyone else was incapacitated, either broken or trapped.

"_**And the reign of the supposedly all-powerful Council of Kandrakar comes to an end!"**_ Xin Hei-an declared. _**"You've all led me a merry chase, my friends, but all good things end. Kandrakar is rightfully mine, and soon the rest of the universe shall follow, bowing in my presence."**_

"You won't win…" Will tried to say, but her spirit, as well as her strength, felt deflated. Xin Hei-an had defeated all of them, reclaimed the Heart and restored his full power, and made himself supreme ruler of the fortress. What else could they do?

"I already have, my dear."

He floated down to them, passing by each, uncaring. _**"I would offer mercy, but alas that is not in my nature. Rest assured, I will see to your families personally once I return to Earth." **_

The girls all struggled futilely, their eyes blazing with fury, but he merely chuckled at their expense and raised his right hand at them. _**"Farewell, worthy but annoying opponents."**_

Everyone clenched their teeth, as they waited for the final blast that would end their lives. As they waited, thoughts and feelings of hopelessness, sorrow and regret passed through each of them.

'Mr. Collins… Please, look after mom for me.'

'_Guess we'll never see which one of you will take me to the Prom, eh, Martin and Andrew.'_

'_Farewell, Nigel. As far as boyfriends go, you were the best.'_

'_Goodbye, Lillian. I love you.' _

'_Grandma, I'm so sorry I let you down…again.'_

They closed their eyes, as the sound of electricity began to crackle again, and Xin Hei-an pointed his hand at them… Because of this, they missed what happened next.

[CRASH!]

When they next opened their eyes, they saw Xin Hei-an lying 10 feet away, a small puff of dark smoke rising from his chest. He gave a short groan, as he sat up and looked over to see…

"Nerissa?" Caleb moaned, looking startled at seeing his mother rising from the floor.

The others all turned to look at her, and were as equally as startled. Whatever injuries she had sustained seemed to have magically disappeared, but that wasn't what surprised them so. As she hovered where she was over the floor, there was an expression on her face that seemed so UN-Nerissa like. They couldn't explain it, but there was a dramatic change in the Council's former Guardian and enemy.

Nerissa had always housed a range of somewhat dark emotions and expressions, from arrogance and greed, to hatred and rage. But the woman before her had none of those qualities, and seemed almost…peaceful and content. She stared at Xin Hei-an not with anger or the lust for destruction, but with a type of sadness and absolution.

Xin Hei-an seemed to notice, too, as he gazed keenly at her, his eyes like a cobra.

"_**Cute trick,"**_ he commented, as he looked at the spot where he had driven his Quintessence forged sword into her, but seeing no sign of it. Even the clothes she wore had been mended.

"It must end, Xin Hei-an," Nerissa moved her mouth, but it was not just her voice that spoke. It echoed in tune with another voice that spoke with her.

It was that voice, everyone assumed, which caused Xin Hei-an to pale somewhat.

"_**Impossible!"**_ he said.

"_When dealing with magic,"_ the Nerissa entity continued, _"you should know that nothing is impossible." _

He stared at her with shock, horror, anger, hate and a range of many other emotions, until finally he spoke. _**"Xin Jing!" **_

Everyone all stared in astonishment, most of all the Council.

"_**How?" **_

"You are the embodiment of death, yet you have lived all through these ages. I am the embodiment of life. Did you not think I could survive these long aeons, too?"

"Maybe, yet I am still with my original body, while you appear to be lacking."

"After our home-world was destroyed, I fled to the one now called Meridian. With our home gone, our people dead, and you my own brother turned to darkness; I fell into despair and grief. I still possessed your heart, which I had cut out on the battlefield that claimed the life of our father."

"Yes…thank you for reminding me of that. I should thank you for that personally."

She continued to stare at him with a still expression. _"I did what I had to, what I had no choice but to do." _

"_**Says you!" **_

"_With nothing left, I merged my own life force with that of your own heart, thereby becoming one with it. When the merging was complete, the woman I was ceased to exist, as did your heart of flesh, and in their place the Heart of Kandrakar was born." _

"And this was on Meridian, I'm guessing."

She nodded. _"For centuries, the Heart remained hidden in the dirt until it was discovered by some of Meridian's inhabitants. They used its power to build what is now called The Ancient Empire, from which the present Meridian is descended. The last Mage of Meridian then used the Heart to build this fortress you now stand within, and founded the Council of the New Kandrakar, restoring some of the lost glory that was our home." _

"_**A glorified dollhouse!"**_ he scoffed, snorting in disgust. _**"The real Kandrakar was a house of true power! Its might knew no equal, and still doesn't! And through me, it shall be reborn!" **_

"That can never be, brother. Kandrakar's time has long since passed…as has yours."

He threw his head back and laughed. _**"Do you intend to kill me again, sister? As you did all those centuries ago!" **_

She shook her head. _"We are both the life force of Quintessence. We cannot die. Our mortal bodies can be shed and destroyed, but our chi, our life force, will continue to live on for all eternity." _

"_**So what is the purpose of all this then?"**_ he said, pointing at her and indicating everything around them. _**"When you know you can't kill me."**_

"I never said I came to kill you, only to stop you. And that is something I can and must do, brother, no matter how much it pains me to."

He smirked darkly at her. _**"Well then. In that case…" **_He struck out his hands, and…nothing…

[RUMBLE!]

…or at least nothing to begin with.

"_**Quintessence!"**_ he roared, and from beneath Nerissa/Xin Jing, the floor started to shift, as the rock from the stone fortress came alive, taking on the shape and form of huge golem-like creatures.

"_**You should have been more careful with what you told me, sister,"**_ he said, chuckling. _**"You merged yourself with my Heart, which means I now have access to your power! Everything you had is now mine!" **_

All around them, the fortress shook and rumbled, as every stone, fabric and energy came alive, taking on a life of its own, each dedicated to serving Kandrakar's dark emperor.

"_**Now, death 'and' life are mine to command and control! I am God to the entire universe!"**_ Xin Hei-an declared, sounding drunk with his new found power, as energy streamed from every part of him.

The golems held onto Nerissa/Xin Jing, but she made no attempt to fight them, or even any attempt to break free. She just stood where she was, staring at her brother as he rained chaos everywhere.

"Okay, anybody got a plan C?!" Irma cried out.

Nerissa/Xin Jing then stepped forward. As the golems tried to hold her, they found themselves restrained, as more golems appeared behind them, grabbing onto them.

Xin Hei-an paused to look at his sister.

"_The magic I possess comes not from your heart, brother,"_ she explained. _"Nerissa gained her own magic of Quintessence from another source, which still allows me use of my powers. That is why I chose her as my vessel." _

He shrugged. _**"Clever,"**_ he admitted, but then added, _**"but ultimately futile."**_

He sent a wave of energy bolts at her, but still she did not move. Her golems simply came to her aid, leaping in front of her, absorbing the brunt of the blasts. Most of them sustained little damage, except for one that exploded upon impact.

"_**You can't keep this up forever, sister!" **_

"Only for as long as destiny wills it. End this now, brother. You cannot win, no matter how hard you try."

He snarled viciously at her. _**"I have the power! Quintessence is mine to control, Kandrakar and its forces to command, the Four Dragon's powers, yours… What hope do you have against all that?!"**_

"_My faith,"_ she replied simply.

He sneered. _**"Did 'faith' help you all those centuries ago, when last we stood on our world?!" **_

"I am here, am I not? I live, I breathe, and I still have power."

More of the golems came at her, but just as they neared, Xin Hei-an raised his hand, stalling them.

"_**Yes, you do,"**_ he admitted, eyeing her dangerously. _**"But, fortunately, that is something that can be remedied!" **_

In the blink of an eye, he soared over to her, faster than a bird on the wind, and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"_**Your powers are mine!"**_ As he spoke, energy began crackling around the two of them. _**"With Nerissa's own elemental abilities, and your essence, my sister, added to mine own, my power will be even more splendid!"**_

Nerissa/Xin Jing made no move against him, and just stood in his grasp, her face expressionless. Xin Hei-an made no sign of noticing, as the energy around his sister started to change, taking on a pale pink glow, before they began to flow right into him.

"_**Yes…"**_ he moaned, seemingly in pleasure. _**"Finally, the two are one!" **_

"_Yes,"_ she replied. _"They are."_

Before he could think to wonder why she seemed so calm, he felt a surge in him, and the pink light that had been radiating from his sister suddenly wrapped itself around him, dampening his own powers.

"_**Wha…what are you doing?!" **_

"_It's as you said, brother. I____merged myself with your Heart. Everything I had is now yours…but the reverse is true as well. Everything you have is now mine." _She looked at him almost in pity. _"You never understood, Xin Hei-an, even as a child. We are not two separate owners of Quintessence, we are literally two halves of one whole. We are meant to be one, not separate." _

Xin Hei-an started to struggle furiously against her, twisting and turning in an effort to free himself, but the energy from her own life essence had him bound in a steel grip, unyielding.

"We are joined, as it was always meant to be. Now and for all eternity."

"_**NEVER!"**_ he roared, and waves of his own energy started shooting out from all around him, striking everything in sight.

The electrical bonds that had been holding everyone else suddenly fizzed out of existence, and everyone was free once more.

"Caleb!" Cornelia cried out, running to her boyfriend who hastened to get up.

"Mom?" he said, looking in amazement and shock at his mother. She spared him a glance, and for one moment she seemed to lose her look of inner peace, and looked at him with something akin to regret…and love.

"_**RELEASE ME!"**_ Xin Hei-an roared, but Nerissa/Xin Jing made no response, she only held onto him, unyielding. Her energy seemed to be merging with his, and within moments his dark energy and hers sparkled in a single blinding and flashing light.

"What are you…" he started.

"…_doing to…"_ she added.

"…**ME?"** they both finished.

Everyone stared, and then blinked, as Xin Hei-an and Nerissa's forms melded into one, the light blinding them. As they all shut their eyes, they heard the two immortal's voices speaking as one.

"WE FINALLY COMPREHEND! OUR THOUGHTS ARE ONE! OUR LIFE AND SOUL AS SUCH! WHAT WAS BORN AS ONE IS NOW FOREVER BOUND IN CRYSTAL FORM! WE ARE JOINED, NOW AND ETERNAL!"

There was another flash, and the light finally started to dim. Eventually, everyone was able to open their eyes once more, and when they looked they saw nothing of Xin Hei-an, Nerissa or whatever she had been joined with.

The force binding each of them suddenly dissipated, and they all slid to the floor, dazed but unharmed.

"Umm, okay," Irma said, looking around. "What just happened?"

The Oracle stared at where the entity, for he wasn't sure what else to call it, had been just moments ago. "I think…" he said breathlessly. "I think Nerissa's body was just taken over by the nymph Xin Jing. She must have bonded with her body and spirit. Amazing!"

He looked at all their astounded expressions. "For the spirit of one to bond with another, is a rarity among rarities. Even I, in my long lifespan, have hardly heard of such a thing occurring. And to have Xin Jing, the very source of Quintessence itself…this is unbelievable."

"Where's Nerissa?!" Caleb suddenly asked, looking around. "Where did they all go?"

The Oracle's face then took on a long frown. After a long moment, all he said was, "I don't know."

Will opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, a small chime sounded not too far away from where Nerissa had been standing.

The crowd looked over, and saw the Heart of Kandrakar, restored and returned to them.

0000000000

**3 Months Later:**

Before long, three months had passed. No sign of Nerissa was ever found, but neither, thankfully, was there any of Hexin. The Council had recovered and rebuilt Kandrakar, restoring the Aurameres and returning their power to the Guardians and the Heart.

The Oracle had explained to everyone, as best as he could, about what had happened. Though, for once, it was a subject that he knew next to nothing about.

Hexin had represented a threat so great to the entire universe, beyond anything that even Nerissa or Phobos ever represented, that his own sister had somehow been called back to do battle with him, something that would normally be impossible.

Before her return, Xin Jing had long since left the ordinary world of mortals, changing herself into the Heart, while her _spirit_, for lack of a better word, had ascended to a higher plane of reality. Some might call it Heaven, but who could really say? Normally, when something like that happened, return was impossible, but Xin Jing had had, what some would call, an anchor, something that kept her linked to the ordinary world.

This link was, of course, her brother Hexin, for they were far more than just mere brother and sister. They were more like two halves of one whole. He was the darkness, and she the light, like Yin and Yang. Neither was complete without the other. As long as he remained in the mortal world, she had a way back, which was how she had been able to return.

The girls had asked why she hadn't returned before, but the Oracle had no answer to that. Maybe she could only come when Hexin posed too great a threat, but they would never know for certain now.

However, even with her link through Hexin, Xin Jing could not just come back at the drop of a hat. Her original body had long since turned to dust, so she had needed a vessel. And not just any vessel, but one that possessed a power similar to hers, for no other could take her. Will and Nerissa were the only two candidates.

Why she had chosen Nerissa was anyone's guess. Perhaps it was because Nerissa had been so mortally wounded, allowing Xin Jing to make contact with her, or maybe she simply wanted to help her. It was a question that none of them would ever answer.

Julian and Caleb once again had to come to terms with Nerissa's passing, as well as the truth about who and what she truly was…for the second time.

Napoleon had been freed, and after a long week of listening to his moans and complaints, he had slowly returned to good health.

Elyon had made a full recovery, as the Council had guaranteed. Whatever Hexin had pumped her full of had run its course, and over time her powers had steadily returned.

As for Lillian, Cornelia had returned her home…or rather Will had. She had used her power to pose as a concerned citizen, who had found Lillian unconscious in the park, and called the police. She had woken up shortly after, with no memory of her abduction by Hexin, or her near miss of death at his hands. Cornelia and Caleb never let her out of their sights, and neither did her parents.

Mr and Mrs Hale were, needless to say, very rattled by what had happened with Hexin's forces. They rarely let Cornelia and Lillian out for weeks, but now they seemed to be finally calming down. They would be a lot calmer if the men who had raided their home were caught, of course, but unfortunately that was not possible. Hexin's people had all done a disappearing act, no doubt fearful of being caught if the Guardians revealed them to the police.

Caleb found it a little overwhelming, knowing that he had a little sister, especially one who was a Heart, just like his queen (who incidentally had now fully recovered from her ordeal with Hexin). But he took his new responsibilities as big brother very seriously, as he did with all of his duties. Julian had even started to come with him to Earth, to meet the little girl who was his stepdaughter. Obviously, no one had told her who they truly were. As far as Lillian knew, Caleb was just her sister's boyfriend, and Julian his father. Everyone had decided that for know she would remain in the dark about them, including Nerissa.

Cornelia no longer had any hatred for the former Guardian. None of them did really. How could they, since she had sacrificed herself for them all? They wouldn't go so far as to say they forgave her, but they didn't hate her, and preferred to leave it at just that.

"What happened to her, though?" Caleb and Julian had asked.

Again, the Oracle had only shrugged. "She and Xin Jing were still joined when she bonded with Hexin, and ascended back to whence she came from. I can only assume that she must have gone with them."

"Gone where?"

"Who knows? To know that, we would have to go there ourselves…and that, sadly, is not possible."

Caleb and Julian had both looked crestfallen at that. Although Nerissa had been a traitor, a liar and various other things…she had still been a lover to one and a mother to the other.

"Will she ever come back?" they had asked.

Again, the Oracle could not give an answer. "Who can say?"

0000000000

**Heatherfield:**

Lillian stood outside the school-gates, waiting for her mother to come pick her up, as she had warned her that she might be late today. She watched all the other kids greet and go off with their parents.

"Hello?" a warm voice said to her.

Turning around and looking up, she saw a dark-haired woman, who seemed somehow familiar to her.

"Hi?" she said unsurely, making a quick check to see that there was still plenty of people around, in case she needed help. Her family had ingrained into her the dangers of talking to strangers.

"Are you okay?" the lady asked. "Is there someone meeting you here?"

She nodded. "My mom always picks me up."

"That's good, Lillian."

She looked up at her in surprise. "How'd you know my name?"

The lady smiled. "That's a complicated subject, but I suppose you could say that I'm a distant relative of yours."

"I know all my family," said Lillian indignantly.

"Do any of us truly know where we come from?" she replied in a distant tone, making Lillian look quizzically at her.

"I've come to give you something." The lady reached into her pocket.

Lillian instantly tensed up. "I'm not supposed to take things from strangers."

"I know, child, and quite right, too. But you have nothing to fear from me."

She spoke in a deep, soft tone that seemed to soothe Lillian's fear. She didn't know what it was about the woman, but something just told her that she was right, and that she was safe with her, as she looked up into her golden eyes.

"Here," she said, as she pulled something out her pocket. When Lillian saw what it was, a golden locket, she gave a squeal of delight.

"Oh, it's lovely!"

"It once belonged to your great-grandmother," the lady explained, handing it to her. "She wore it many years ago, as a present from her husband. Your family intended to give it to you in a few years, however, I think you're ready to get it now, so I managed to get it from them."

"I hate being little!" Lillian pouted, but kept smiling as she stared at the jewellery, and the engraved writing upon it. "They always say I have to wait until I'm big for everything."

The lady chuckled. "Your day will come sooner than you expect, my little Heart."

"What do these words mean?" Lillian asked, gently fingering the engraved words.

"_To All My Daughters, May This Bring You Luck On Your Happiest Of Days_," the lady replied. "It has since her time been passed on to all her descendants, so it's only right that it should be yours, despite your youth."

She then reached down, and kissed Lillian gently on her brow. "I have to go now. Keep the locket safe," she told her. "It may not be a bad idea to keep it hidden for now, even from your family. They might get the wrong idea, as it was given to you from a stranger."

Lillian nodded, and tucked it into her bag. "Can I tell my sister?"

The lady smiled and nodded. "I think that will be all right."

A sudden hooting sound came from behind them, and Lillian gave a little sigh.

"It's my mom," she said. "I gotta go."

"Of course."

"Will I see you again?"

She smiled again. "Someday, perhaps."

Lillian gave a little wave, and hurried off towards her mom's waiting car.

As she left, she didn't notice the lady watching her, with that ever so warm smile on her face, but an almost sad look in her eyes.

"Goodbye…" she whispered. "…My precious heart."

And with that, she woman vanished from sight, though no one noticed her departure. In fact, no one had even noticed she had been there in the first place.

The End! 


End file.
